
Class _^JJI24^ 

Book ^PJ 

Gopyrightl^°_JiA_ 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



The Government 



OF 



The State of Pennsylvania 



INCLUDING 



Local Government 



BY 

a L GRUBER 



PROFESSOR OF CIVICS IN THE KEYSTONE STATE NORMAL SCHOOL 
KUTZTOWN. PENNSYLVANIA 




1909 

J. B. EssER, Printer 
KuTZTowN, Pa. 






V' 



Copyright, 1909, by 
C. L. GRUBBR 



LIBRARY of CONGRESS 
Two CoDies Received 

JUN 3 IbUi^ 

. Copyrignt Entry _ 

tUSS A AX6 Ng, 

COPY S. 



PREFACE. 



An act of the General Assembly of Pennsylvania, ap- 
proved May 21, 1901, provided ''That after the first Mon- 
day of June, one thousand nine hundred and two, no teacher 
in this Commonwealth shall receive from a county, city, or 
borough superintendent, a certificate as a teacher who has 

not a fair knowledge of civil government, 

including State and local " This act had the 

effect, indirectly, of placing civil government in the curri- 
culum of most of the schools. The act also gave due prom- 
inence to the study of State and local government, the study 
of which was too often neglected, viewed briefly and hur- 
riedly, or overshadowed by a disproportionate discussion of 
national government or foreign governments. 

The study of the national government is in no wise com- 
plete without a proportional study of State and local gov- 
ernment, since these are after all but a part of the general 
system of national government. State and local govern- 
ment are as rich in detail as national government is ; and 
it is this fact that renders it a difficult matter to write a text- 
book on State and local government presenting the essen- 
tial facts, conditions, and principles without making it too 
cumbrous. It is the object of this textbook to place the 
study of State and local government in its proper rank by a 
more extensive discussion than is usually accorded to this 
department of civics, but at the same time an endeavor has 
been made to confine these discussions within moderate 
compass. 

C. L. Grubi<r. 
Keystone State Normal School. 

(iii) 



CONTENTS. 



STATE GOVERNMENT. 
Introduction. 
The Government oi^ Pennsylvania before the 

Adoption of the Constitution of 1873. 
The Government of Pennsylvania under the Con- 
stitution OF 1873. 
The Declaration of Rights. 

The State Legislature. 

Legislation. 

The Executive Department. 

The Judicial Department. 

Impeachment and Removal from Office. 

The Oath of Office. 

Suffrage and Elections. 

Taxation and Finance. 

Education. 

The Militia. 

Public Officers. 

Amendments. 

Appendix to State Government. 

COUNTY GpVERNMENT. 

TOWNSHIP GOVERNMENT. 

Townships of the Second Class. 
Townships of the First Class. 

BOROUGH GOVERNAIENT. 

CITY GOVERNMENT. 



(V) 



STATE GOVERNMENT 



INTRODUCTION. 



A State of the United States. A State is the largest 
pohtical division of the United States. It has a distinct 
government of its own estabhshed by the people of the 
State. The first thirteen States of the United States had 
their origin in the thirteen colonies established by England 
in this country. ^lost of the other States had been organ- 
ized as Territories before their admission into the union. 
In the United States a State is more distinctly a political 
organization and at the same time more definitely a member 
of the union and a part of the national government than in 
any other nation of the world. 

Relation of a State to the Nation. • The States are 
subordinate and inferior to the nation. They can transact 
no affairs which are strictly national and the Constitution 
of the United States and laws passed by Congress place 
other matters beyond the control of the States. In the 
management of their individual affairs, however, there is 
very little national interference. In the internal govern- 
ment of the country, the preservation of order and the ad- 
ministration of the law, the State really bears by far the 
greater portion of the burden of government. 

The Constitution of the United States guarantees to 
each State a republican form of government. The govern- 
ment of a State is therefore very similar ^o the government 
of the United States. 

Congress enacts laws for the nation and for the welfare 
of the States collectively. The States enact laws for the 
regulation of affairs not controlled by national statutes. 
In some cases when Congress passes a law regulating niat- 

(9) 



lo THE GOVERXMEXT OF PEXXSYLVAXIA. 

ters connected with the States, it is the custom for the State 
legislature also to pass a law in pursuance of the law en- 
acted by Congress. Federal law is also distinctly State law 
and must be observed by the people and by the officers of 
State and nation alike ; but State law is not observed be- 
yond the confines of the State. 

The national constitution guarantees to the States pro- 
tection against invasion and, when application is made, also 
against domestic violence. This idea of protection is re- 
ciprocal. If the nation finds the forces at its command in- 
adequate, the militia of the States may be employed or a 
call for volunteers may be issued. On the other hand, if a 
State finds itself unable to suppress internal disorders, it 
may call upon the nation for assistance. If a State fails to 
preserve order the national government may interfere on 
its ow^n account. This was done by President Cleveland, 
in July, 1894, during the Chicago railway strike, when he 
called out United States troops to secure the transmission 
of the mails and prevent obstruction of interstate commerce. 

The system of State courts is independent of the system 
of national courts. Federal courts rarely deal with State 
laws unless to pass upon their constitutionality with respect 
to the United States Constitution, but State law is applied 
by federal courts when there is no federal statute applying 
to the case. State courts deal with both State and federal 
statutes, but their interpretation of federal statutes is sub- 
ject to revision by federal courts. If a State court declares 
a State law to be in violation of the United States Consti- 
tution, its decision is final ; but if it maintains the law to be 
in accordance with the United States Constitution, the dec'i- 
sion may still be reversed by a United States court. The 
judges of the State courts shall be bound by the supreme 
law of the land, " anything in the constitution or laws of 
any State to the contrary notwithstanding" (U. S. Const., 
Art. VI, cl. 2). 



RELATION OF PEOPLE TO STATE. ir 

Relation of State to State. The States as individual 
members of the union are relatively equal to each other. 
While their governments differ in some respects, yet there 
is a general resemblance. Some confusion and friction has 
been caused by the great variety of laws in the different 
States on the same subject; yet there is necessarily a great 
deal of uniformity since State laws are founded mainly on 
the common lavv^ of England. This want of uniformity 
might be remedied by an amendment to the national con • 
stitution giving Congress power to pass uniform laws for 
the States or by interstate committees appointed to secure 
uniformity in legislation. The adoption of the United 
States Constitution had the effect of wiping out the bitter 
State jealousies that existed before that time. The national 
constitution provides that '' full faith and credit shall be 
given in each State to the public acts, records, and judicial 
proceedings of every other State." 

Relation of the People to the State. The people are 
subject to the laws of the State and of the United States. 
A citizen of the United States is a citizen also of the State 
in which he resides. The citizen of a State owes allegiance 
to his State, but his first and highest allegiance he owes to 
the nation. The people are most generally and most directly 
affected by State laws, especially with reference to their 
social and legal relationships in the community in which 
they dwell. " The citizens of each State shall be entitled 
to all the privileges and immunities of citizens in the several 
States." A citizen of one State can therefore not be denied 
citizenship nor the privileges of a citizen in another State, 
provided he abides by the regulations made for citizens of 
that State. 

Political Divisions of the United States. The largest 
political division of the United States is a State. States are 
divided into counties and a county consists of a number of 
townships. A township is the lowest political division with 



12 THE GOVHRXMEXT OF PEXXSYLVAXIA. 

a practically complete system of government, but townships 
consist of a number of sub-school districts and road dis- 
tricts and may be subdivided into voting precincts. A coun- 
ty may also contain cities or boroughs and these may be 
subdivided into wards. The government of all the divisions 
of a State is however centralized in the State government. 



THE GOVERNMENT 



OF 



PENNSYLVANIA 



BEFORE THE ADOPTION OF THE 
CONSTITUTION OF 1873 



"* When the great and wise God had made the world, of all 
"his creatures, it pleased him to choose man his deput}^ to rule it: 
and to fit him for so great a charge and trust, he did not only 
•qualitV him with 'skill and power, but with integrity to use them 
justly." 

" Any government is free to the people under it (whatever be 
the frame) where the laws rule, and the people are a party to those 
laws, and more than this is tyranny, oligarclw, or confusion." 

" Governments, like clocks, go from the motion men give them ; 
and as governments are made and moved by men, so by them they 
are ruined too. Wherefore governments rather depend upon men, 
than men upon governments. Let men be good, and the govern- 
ment can not be bad; if it be ill, the}' will cure it. But, if men be 
bad, let the government be never so good, they will endeavor to 
warp and spoil it to their turn."' 

" I know some sa}', let us have good laws, and no matter for 
the men that execute them : but let them consider, that though good 
lav\S do well, good men do better : for good laws ma}' want good 
men, and be abolished or evaded by ill men ; but good men will 
never want good laws, nor suffer ill ones.'' 

" The great end of all government, viz. : To support power in 
reverence Vvith the people, and to secure the people from the abuse 
of power; that they m.ay be free by their just obedience, and the 
magistrates honorable, for their just administration: for liberty 
without obedience is confusion, and obedience without liberty is 
.slavery." — Preface to Penn's Frame of Government. 



(14) 



THE GOVERNMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA 
BEFORE 1874. 

Origin of Pennsylvania. The year 1681 marks the be- 
ginning of Pennsylvania as a separate poHtical oranization. 
In this year Charles II granted a tract of land embracing 
the present State of Pennsylvania to William Penn, an em- 
inent Quaker, in payment of a debt of f 16000 due to his 
father from the crown. This grant also afforded a place 
of refuge for the persecuted Quakers. In 1682 Penn ob- 
tained from the Duke of York a grant of the territory em- 
braced in the present State of Delaware, thus extending his 
domain to the open sea. This grant was known as the 
■"' three lower counties " or the '' territories " of Pennsyl- 
vania. The government of Delaware was connected with 
that of Pennsylvania until the Revolution. 

Penn sent his cousin, William Markham, as his deputy 
to take possession of the country. Markham arrived early 
in July, 1681. The next year, October 27, 1682, Penn him- 
self arrived in the ship Welcome and landed at New Castle. 
Markham had already purchased land of the Indians and 
made a treaty of friendship with them. On October 30 
Penn went to Upland, which he named Chester, and made 
arrangements for the meeting of the first general assembly. 
He then continued his journey up the Delaware to Shacka- 
maxon, in the present Kensington District of Philadelphia, 
where he met the Indians early in November under a large 
elm tree and made his famous treaty with them. Penn next 
laid out the city of Philadelphia, near the Indian village of 
Quequenaku, " the grove of long pines." Few houses were 
I)uilt in 1682, but in 1683 about 100 houses were erected 
and the city grew rapidly in size and population. 

Although it is possible that Sebastian Cabot (1498), John Ver- 

(15; 



i6 THE GOVERNMEXT OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

razano (1524), and Stephen Gomez (1525) looked into Delaware 
Bay, positive proof of this fact is wanting. In 1609 Henry Hudson 
spent a day in Delaware Bay and in 1610 Lord Delaw^are discov- 
ered the mouth of the Delaware River ; but the territory of what 
afterwards became known as Pennsylvania was probably not seen 
by Europeans before the year 1616, unless indeed it was seen by 
Captain John Smith in his voyages up the Susquehanna in 1608. 
In this year (1616) the Dutch Captain Hendrickson discovered 
the Schuylkill River and near the present site of Philadelphia he 
met three Netherlanders who had come from Fort Nassau, near 
Albany, by way of the Mohawk and the Delaware. Holland now 
claimed the territory along the Delaware River and in 1623 Cap- 
tain Mey erected Fort Nassau, near Gloucester, N. J. In 1631 a 
party of Hollanders under Pieter Heyes established themselves 
on Lewes Creek, near Cape Henlopen. This settlement, called 
Swaanendael, was totally destroyed by the Indians in 1632. 

In the mean time King Gustavus Adolphus, of Sweden, had 
been formulating plans for American colonization and in 1638 a 
party of Swedes and P'inns under Peter ]\Iinuits built Fort Chris- 
tina, near Wilmington. The land from Cape Henlopen to the falls 
of the Delaware at Trenton w^as purchased from the Indians and 
the territory on the west bank of the Delaware practically passed 
out of Dutch control. In 1643, John Printz, the third governor of 
New Sweden, built a fort on Tinicum Island, about twelve miles 
below Philadelphia. He named the settlement New Gottenberg 
and it was probably the first European settlement in Penns3dvania. 

In 1 65 1, to counteract Swedish influence, the Dutch left Fort 
Nassau and built Fort Casimir, near New Castle, Delaware. The 
Swedes under Governor Risingh captured Fort Casimir in 1654. 
Thereupon Peter Stuj^vesant, Governor of New Netherlands, re- 
ceived orders to conquer the Swedes. He succeeded in this under- 
taking in 1655 and the Dutch again exercised authority on both 
sides of the Delaware; but in 1664, when King Charles II granted 
this region to his brother, the Duke of York, New Netherlands 
w^as taken by the English under Colonel Richard Nicolls. With 
the exception of one year it remained under English control until 
the Revolution. 

Name of Pennsylvania. Penn at first intended to name 
the province Nezv Wales. The immense forests then sug- 
gested the name Sylvania, but the king ordered it to be 
called Pennsylvania, " Penn's Woods," in honor of William 



BOUNDARIES OF PENNSYLVANIA. 17 

Penn's father, Admiral Sir William Penn. The original 
spelling in Penn's charter is '' Pensilvania.'' 

Territory and Boundaries of Pennsylvania. Penn met the In- 
dians '• on the broad pathway of good faith and good will " and 
instead of appropriating their land he bought it from them by 
making purchases of large tracts at different times. 

According to Fenn's interpretation of the boundaries mentioned 
in his charter his grant covered a much larger area than is now 
included in the State. The charter of King Charles defined Penn's 
grant as "All that Tract or Parte of Land in America, with all 
Islands therein conteyned, as the same is bounded on the East by 
Delaware River, frcm twelve miles distance Northwards of Nczij 
Castle Towne unto the three ard fortieth degree of Northerne 
Latitude, if the said River doeth extende so farre Northwards ; 
But if the said River shall not extend soe farre Northward, then 
by the said River so farr as it doth extend; and from the head of 
the said River, the Easterne Bounds are to bee determined by a 
Meridian Line, to be drawne frcm the head of the said River, 
unto the said three and fortieth Degree. The said Lands to extend 
westwards five degrees in longitude, to be computed from the said 
Easterne Bounds ; and the said Lands to be bounded on the North 
by the beginning of the three and fortieth degree of Northern Lati- 
tude, and on the South by a Circle drawne at twelve miles dis- 
tance from N^ezv Castle Northward and Westward unto the begin- 
ning of the fortieth degree of Northern Latitude, and then by a 
streight Line Westv/ard to the Limitt of Longitude above-men- 
tioned." 

William Penn reasoned that the beginning of the fortieth de- 
gree meant the thirty-ninth parallel, but Lord Baltimore claimed 
that Maryland extended to the fortieth parallel. When Penn's 
charter was written it was supposed that the fortieth parallel 
passed through New Castle. This dispute caused some bloodshed 
in the overlapping territory. In 1732 an agreement was reached 
by which the boundary was to be located as follows : 

A semicircle was to be drawn beginning at the Delaware River, 
with a radius of tVNrelve miles and the center at New Castle ; from 
a point in the middle of the peninsula, on a line directly west .from 
Cape Henlopen, a tangent to this circle was to be drawn; from 
the point of tangency a line was to be run due north to a point 
fifteen miles south of the southern end of Philadelphia; from this 
point the line was to extend directly west five degrees. On account 
of disputes as to the method of locating the boundary, nothing 

2 



i8 



THE GOVERNMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA. 



was done until 1761, when Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon 
were appointed to surve}^ the line. This was done from 1763 to 
1767. On account of the Indians, Mason and Dixon's Line was 
surveyed onh' for a distance of 230 miles. The location of the re- 
maining part of the southern boundary along the same parallel, 
39 degrees J4 minutes, to its western extremity was commenced by 
other surveyors in 1782. 

A large part of western and southwestern Pennsylvania was 
claimed by Virginia. The strife between the Virginians and Penn- 
sylvanians continued until 1779, when an agreement was reached 
by which the southern boundary was completed and the western 
boundary surveyed along the meridian of 80 degrees 32 minutes 
north to the Ohio River. In 1785, Virginia having ceded her west- 
ern lands to the United States, Pennsylvania alone completed the 
boundarv to Lake Erie. 




Connecticut, by virtue of her " sea to sea " charter, laid claim 
to that part of Pennsjdvania north of 41 degrees. Settlers from 
both States entered this region and the frequent conflicts which 
took place between these two classes of colonists from 1769 to the 
Revolution is known as the "Pennamite and Yankee War." In 
1782 a commission appointed by the Continental Congress met at 
Trenton and awarded the disputed territory to Pennsylvania. 

The boundary between New York and Pennsylvania also was 
in dispute. In 1775 a stone w^as set up in the Delaware River 
but the line afterwards run west from this stone ended south of 



PERIODS OF GOVERNMENT. 19 

Lake Erie. In 1789 the forty-second parallel was accepted as the 
boundary. 

Pennsylvania now had only about four miles of coast line on 
Lake Erie, so in 1792 the State bought the triangle at Lake Erie 
of the United States. 

In 1905 Pennsylvania agreed to give the " flat iron," as the 
small triangular piece of land between Pennsylvania and Delaware 
is called, to Delaware : but Delaware and Congress have not yet 
confirmed the transfer (1908).^ 

The Seat of Government. Chester was the first capital 
of Pennsylvania. Here the first general assembly was held 
in 1682. In 1683 the capital was transferred to Philadel- 
phia. It was removed to Lancaster in 1799 and to Harris- 
burg in 181 2. 

Periods and Forms of Government. The government 
of Pennsylvania may be divided into three periods, the first 
covering that period during which the southeastern part of 
the State with its scattered settlements and inhabitants was 
merely territory attached to some other colony, the second 
comprising the government of the Province of Pennsyl- 
vania, under Penn and his heirs, the third including the 
o'overnment of Pennsvlvania as a State. 



^ 



I. Colonial or Territorial Period, — 1623 — 1681. 

1. First Period of Dutch Dominion, — 1623 — 1638. 

i\ Proprietary, under the Dutch West India Com- 
pan}', as part of New Netherlands. 

American affairs were directed by a Director until 
1626 and by a Governor after that date. Although 
the Dutch laid claim to this region since 1609, it 
was without European government previous to 
1623. 

2. Period of Swedish Dominion, — 1638 — 1655. 

i\ Proprietary, under Swedish West India Company, 
as part of New Sweden. The government was 
directed by a Governor. 

Holland, Sweden and England claimed the territory 
along the Delaware, but during this period Swe- 
den exercised the principal authority over the re- 
gion now included in Pennsylvania. 



20 THE GOVERNMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

3. Second Period of Dutch Dominion, — 1655 — 1664. 

i\ Proprietar3'% under Dutch West India Company. 

4. First Period of English Dominion, — 1664 — 1673. 

i\ Proprietary, under the Duke of York, as a Terri- 
tory of New York. 

The government was administered by a Governor of 
New York and a separate Commander on the Del- 
aware. 

5. Third Period of Dutch Dominion, — 1673 — 1674. 

i\ Royal. 

The government was administered by a Governor of 
New Netherlands and a Deputy Governor of the 
Colonies on the West Side of the Delaware. 

6. Second Period of English Dominion, — 1674 — 1776. 

I^ Proprietar}^ under the Duke of York, until granted 
to William Penn. 
XL Provincial Peripd, — 1681 — 1776. 

1. Proprietary^ under William Penn, — 1681 — 1693. 

2. Royal, — 1693— 1695. 

Penn was suspected of dislcf^^alt}'^ and Pennsylvania 
was taken from him, but after his innocence was 
proved he was restored to his rights. The gov- 
ernment was directed by Governor Fletcher, of 
New York, with William Markham as Deputy 
Governor. 

3. Proprietary. 

i\ Under William Penn, — 1695 — 171S. 

2\. Under Penn's widow, Hannah Penn, — 17 18 — 1733- 

3^ Under Penn's sons, John (d. 1746), Thomas, and 
Richard (d. 1771), — 1733— 1771. 

4\ Under Thomas Penn and John Penn, son of Rich- 
ard Penn, — 1771 — 1776. 

During this period the government was administered 
by the proprietor as Governor or by a Deputy or 
Lieutenant Governor together with a Provincial 
Council and a General Assembly. 

In June, 1775, the Assembly practically deposed John 

Penn as Governor by appointing a Council of 

Safety to supersede him and exercise the executive 

functions. Franklin was chairman of the Council. 

III. Constitutional Period. — The Commonwealth, — 1776 . 

1. Under the Council of Safety, — 1776 — 1777. • 

2. Under the Constitution of 1776. 



CONSTITUTIONS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 2 1 

3. Under the Constitution of i/CO. 

4. Under the Constitution of 1838. 

5. Under the Constitution of 1873. 

Charters and Constitutions of Pennsylvania. I. What- 
ever government Pennsylvania had before it was granted 
to WilHam Penn was administered mainly in accordance 
with the charter of the Dutch West India Company (1621), 
the Articles of the Swedish West India Company (1625) 
and " The Duke's Laws " (1665). 

II. The Charter for the Province of Pennsylvania. 
This very liberal charter was granted by Charles II to 
William Penn March 4, 1681. It made William Penn and 
his heirs proprietors of the Province and gave them the 
right to make laws for the country " by and with the advice, 
assent, and approbation of the Freemen of the said Coun- 
try, or the greater parte of them, or of their Delegates or 
Deputies" w^ho were enjoined by the charter to meet in 
some form of assembly for this piirpose. The laws had to 
be transmitted to England and could be declared void if 
found to be contrary to the allegiance due the king or in- 
consistent with his sovereignty. The charter also gave Penn 
the power to appoint judges and other officers. 

The annual rent to be paid by the proprietors of Pennsylvania 
was ''Two Beaver Skins, to bee delivered at Our said Castle of 
IVindsor on the First Day of January in every year; and also the 
Fifth Part of all Gold and Silver Oare, which shall from Time to 
Time happen to bee found within the Limitts aforesaid, cleare of 
all Charges." 

III. Concessions to the Province of Pennsylvania. 
These were '' Certain conditions, or concessions, agreed 
upon by William Penn, Proprietary and Governor of the 
province of Pennsylvania, and those Vvdio are the adven- 
turers and purchasers in the same province, the eleventh 
of July, one thousand six hundred and eighty-one." They 



22 THE GOVERNMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

were given to Markham and his colonists for their guid- 
ance until Penn's arrival. 

The Concessions provided for a jury of twelve men, six planters 
and six natives, to decide disputes between the settlers and the 
Indians. Another noteworthy article provides "That, in clearing" 
the ground, care be taken to leave one acre of trees for every fiv'T 
acres cleared, especially to preserve oaks and mulberries for silk 
and shipping." 

IV. The Frame of Government of the Province of 
Pennsylvania, The Frame, consisting of twenty-four arti- 
cles, was signed by William Penn on April 25, 1682 and 
on May 5 of the same year he added forty laws. Penn 
presented this plan of government, with ninety additional 
laws, to the General Assembly which met at Chester on 
December 6, 1682. These laws, ratified next day, formed 
the Great Law or Great Code of Pennsylvania, the basis 
of our present State government. No Provincial Council 
had yet been chosen. On April 2, 1683, the Frame of Gov- 
ernment, with some alterations, together with sixty-one of 
Penn's proposed laws, was ratified by the Provincial Coun- 
cil and General Assembly which met in Philadelphia. 

The government of Pennsylvania under the frame was vested 
in the Proprietor, v^^ho was the Governor ; in a Provincial Council 
of not less than eighteen nor more than seventy-two members, 
according to the population of the Province, elected for three years ; 
and in a General Assembly of not less than thirty-six nor more 
than two hundred members, elected annualh^ The Governor or 
his deputy was presiding officer of the Council. 

It was the dut}^ of the Governor and the Council to originate 
bills and propose them to the Assembl}^ which bills w^ere to be 
published and posted in prominent places twenty days before the 
Assembly met ; to take care that the laws were executed ; to pro- 
vide for the peace and safety of the Province ; to decide on the 
location of cities, market towns, and roads ; to inspect the manage- 
ment of the public treasury ; to establish schools ; to encourage and 
reward authors and inventors ; to establish courts ; and to convene 
and adjourn the Assembly. 



CONSTITUTIONS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 



23 



The Assembh^ could not originate legislation but could simply 
vote upon the bills presented to it by the Council. The Council 
could nominate a "double number" of persons for judges, treas- 
urers, and masters of the rolls, and the Assembly for sheriffs, 
justices of the peace, and coroners, out of which nominations the 
Governor was to make appointments. 

V. The Charter of Privileges for PeiDisylvania. This 
Charter was granted by William Penn, on the application 
of six-sevenths of the freemen, because the Frame of 1683 
was " found in some Parts of it, not so suitable to the pres- 
ent Circumstances of the Inhabitants.'' It was ratified on 
October 28, 1701. The greater power of the Council in 
making laws had been a cause of strife between the Coun- 
cil and the Assembly. Under the new form of government 
the Assembly was allowed to propose legislation and its 
powers were otherwise enlarged. The people also were al- 
lowed to elect some of the county officers. It was the most 
liberal government existing in the Colonies. 

\1. The Coiistitiiiion of 1776. On ]May 15, 1776, the 
Continental Congress recommended the formation of State 
governments. The assembly of Pennsylvania, composed 
largely of royalists, ignored this recommendation, so the 
people called a provincial assembly of their own which met 
on June 18, 1776 and resolved that a constitutional con- 
vention should be called to form a State government. This 
convention met in Philadelphia on July 15, 1776. It con- 
sisted of ninety-six delegates and chose Franklin president. 
The constitution was completed on September 28, 1776 and 
went into effect at once without ratification by the people. 

The convention assumed control of the State govern- 
ment and appointed a Council of Safety of which Benjamin 
Franklin was president. Franklin was therefore the first 
person to hold the highest executive office in Pennsylvania 
as a State. 

Under the first Constitution of Pennsylvania the legislature 
consisted of only one house. The executive power was vested in 



24 



THE GOVERX^IEXT OF PEXXSYLVAXIA. 



a President and a Supreme Executive Council of twelve members 
which was advisory to the President. The President was ^chosen 
annually by the General Assembly and the Council. The consti- 
tution contained a Declaration of Rights of sixteen articles. It 
established courts in every county of the State. 

In 1780 the Assembh' of Pennsylvania passed a bill providing 
for the gradual abolition of slavery. By the operation of this law 
the State still had y7Z7 slaves in 1790 and only 67 in 1830. 

VII. The Cojistifufioji of lypo. This constitution was 
framed by a convention of 69 delegates, who met in Phila- 
delphia on November 24, 1789, and C:hose Thomas iMifflin 
president. On February 26, 1790, the convention adjourned 
to give the people an opportunity to discuss what had been 
done. It reassembled on August 9 and proclaimed the new 
constitution on September 2, 1750. 

This constitution established a legislative body of two houses. 
The Executive Council was abolished and the executive power was 
vested in a Governor chosen by the people for a term of three 
3'ears. 

A'lII. The Constitution of i8j8. This constitution 
was framed by a convention of 133 members, who met at 
Harrisburg on ]\Iay 2, 1837 but adjourned in November to 
Philadelphia. John Sergeant was elected president. The 
constitution was adopted on February 22, 1838. It was rati- 
fied by the people at an election held October 9, 1838 and 
w^ent into effect on January i, 1839. 

Among other changes the constitution of 1838 gave the legis- 
lature enlarged powers, made most of the offices elective, abolished 
life offices, and restricted the right to vote to all white freemen 
who had paid a state or county tax. As. under previous constitu- 
tions^ the legislature met annually. 

IN. TJie Constitution of i8/j. This constitution was 
framed by a convention of 133 members, who met at Har- 
risburg on November 12, 1872 but adjourned on November 



CONSTITUTIONS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 



25 



27 to meet in Philadelphia on January 7, 1873. William ]\L 
Meredith was chosen president. He died and John H. 
Walker was chosen his successor. The constitution was 
completed on Xovember 3, 1873. It was submitted to the 
voters and ratified on December 16, 1873 ^^^ went into 
effect on January i, 1874. 

One of the chief reasons for framing a new constitution 
Avas the necessity for prohibiting special legislation, par- 
ticularly with reference to corporations. 



THE GOVERNMENT 

OF 

PENNSYLVANIA 



UNDER THE CONSTITUTION OF 1873 



THE CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE OF 
PENNSYLVANIA. 



PREAMBLE. 



We, the people of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, grateful 
to Almighty God for his blessings of civil and religious liberty, and 
humbly invoking His guidance, do ordain and estabhsh this Con- 
stitution. 

ARTICLE L 

That the general, great and essential principles of liberty and 
free government may be recognized and unalterably established, we 
declare that — 

Sec. I. All men are born equally free and independent, and 
have certain inherent and indefeasible rights, among which are those 
of enjoying and defending life and liberty, of acquiring, possessing 
and protecting property and reputation, and of pursuing their own 
happiness. 

Sec. 2. All power is inherent in the people, and all free gov- 
ernments are founded on their authority and instituted for their 
peace, safety and happiness. For the advancement of these ends 
they have at all times an inalienable and indefeasible right to alter, 
reform or abolish their government in such manner as they may 
think proper. 

Sec. 3. All men have a natural and indefeasible right to w^or- 
ship Almighty God according to the dictates of their ow^n con- 
sciences ; no man can of right be compelled to attend, erect or sup- 
port any place of worship, or to maintain any ministry against his 
consent ; no human authority can, in any case whatever, control or 
interfere with the rights of conscience, and no preference shall ever 
be given by law to any religious establishments or modes of 
worship. 

Sec. 4. No person who acknowledges the being of a God and 
a future state of rewards and punishments shall, on account of his 
religious sentiments, be disqualified to hold any office or place of 
trust or profit under this Commonwealth. 

Sec. 5. Elections shall be free and equal: and no power, civil 
or military, shall at any time interfere to prevent the free exercise 
of the right of suffrage. 

Sec. 6. Trial by jury shall be as heretofore, and the right 
thereof remain inviolate. 

Sec. 7. The printing press shall be free to every person who 
may undertake to examine the proceedings of the legislature or 

(29) 



30 THE GOVERNMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

any branch of government, and no law shall ever be made to re- 
strain the right thereof. The free communication of thoughts and 
opinions is one of the invaluable rights of man, and every citizen 
may freely speak, write and print on any subject, being responsible 
for the abuse of that liberty. No conviction shall be had in any 
prosecution for the publication of papers relating to the official con- 
duct of officers or men in public capacity, or to any other matter 
proper for public investigation or information, where the fact that 
such publication was not maliciously or negligently made shall be 
established to the satisfaction of the jury; and in all indictments 
for libels the jury shall have the right to determine the law and 
the facts under the direction of the "court, as in other cases. 

Sec. 8. The people shall be secure in their persons, houses, 
papers, and possessions from unreasonable searches and seizures, 
and no warrant to search any place or to seize any person or things 
shall issue without describing them as nearly as may be, nor without 
probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation subscribed to by 
the affiant. 

Sec. 9. In all criminal prosecutions the accused hath a right 
to be heard b}^ himself and his counsel, to demand the nature and 
cause of the accusation against him, to meet the witnesses face to 
face, to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his 
favor, and, in prosecutions by indictment or information, a speedy 
public trial by an impartial jury of the vicinage; he cannot be com- 
pelled to give evidence against himself, nor can he be deprived of 
liis life, liberty or property, unless by the judgment of his peers or 
the law of the land. 

Sec. 10. No person shall, for any indictable offence, be pro- 
ceeded against criminal!}' by information, except in cases arising in 
the land or i-^aval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service, 
in time of war or public danger, or by leave of the court for op- 
pression or misdemeanor in office. No person shall, for the same 
offence, be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall private 
property be taken or applied to public use, without authority of law 
and without just compensation being first made or secured. 

Sec. II. All courts shall be open; and every man for an injury 
done him in his lands, goods, person or reputation shall have 
remedy by due course of law, and right and justice administered 
without sale, denial or delay. Suits may be brought against the 
Commonwealth in such manner, in such courts and in such cases 
as the legislature may b\* law direct. 

Sec. 12. No power of suspending laws shall be exercised unless 
l)y the legislature or by its authority. 

Sec. 13. Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive 
fines imposed, nor cruel punishments inflicted. 

Sec. 14. All prisoners shall be bailable by sufficient sureties, 
unless for capital offences when the proof is evident or presumption 
great; and the privilege of the writ oi habeas corpus shall not be 
suspended, unless when in case of rebellion or invasion the public 
safety may require it. 

Sec. 15. No commission of Oyer and Terminer or Jail Deliv- 
ery shall be issued. 

Sec. 16. The person of a debtor, where there is not strong 
presumption of fraud, shall not be continued in prison after deliv- 



THE STATE CONSTITUTION. 31* 

ering up his estate for the benefit of his creditors in such manner 
as shall be prescribed by law. 

Sec. 17. No ex post facto law, nor any law impairing the ob- 
ligation of contracts, or making irrevocable any grant of special 
privileges or immunities, shall be passed. 

Sec. 18. Xo person shall be attainted of treason or felony by 
the legislature. 

Sec. 19. Xo attainder shall work corruption of blood, nor, ex- 
cept during the life of the offender, forfeiture of estate to the Com- 
monwealth. The estate of such persons as shall destroy their own 
lives shall descend or vest as in cases of natural death, and if any 
person shall be killed by casualty there shall be no forfeiture by 
reason thereof. 

Sec. 20. The citizens have a right in a peaceable manner to 
assemble together for their common good, and to apply to those 
invested with the powers of government for redress of grievances 
or other proper purposes, by petition, address or remonstrance. 

Sec. 21. The right of the citizens to bear arms in defence of 
themselves and the State shall not be questioned. 

Sec. 22. X'^o standing army shall, in time of peace, be kept up 
without the consent of the legislature, and the military shall in all 
cases and at all times be in strict subordination to the civil power. 

Sec. 2S. Xo soldier shall in time of peace be quartered in any 
house without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war but in a 
manner to be prescribed by law. 

Sec. 24. The legislature shall not grant any title of nobility or 
hereditary distinction, nor create any office the appointment to 
which shall be for a longer term than during good behavior. 

Sec. 25. Emigration from the State shall not be prohibited. 

Sec. 26. To guard against transgressions of the high powers 
which we have delegated, we declare that everything in this article 
is excepted out of the general powers of government and shall for- 
ever remain inviolate. 



ARTICLE II. 

Sec. I. The legislative power of this Commonwealth shall be 
vested in a General Assembly which shall consist of a Senate and a 
House of Representatives. 

Sec. 2. Members of the General Assembly shall be chosen at 
the general election every second 3'ear. Their term of service shall 
begin on the rirst day of December next after their election. When- 
ever a vacancy shall occur in either House, the presiding officer 
thereof shall issue a writ of election to fill such vacancy for the 
remainder of the term. 

Sec. 3. Senators shall be elected for the term of four years 
and Representatives for the term of two years. 

Sec. 4. The General Assembly shall meet at twelve o'clock, 
noon, on the first Tuesday of January every second year, and at 
other times when convened by the Governor, but shall hold no ad- 
journed annual session after the year one thousand eight hundred 
and seventy-eight. In case of a vacancy in the office of United 
States Senator from this Commonwealth, in a recess between ses- 



32 THE GOVERNMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

sions, the Governor shall convene the two Houses, by proclamation 
on notice not exceeding sixty daj^s, to fill the same. 

Sec. 5. Senators shall be at least twenty-five years of age and 
Representatives twenty-one years of age. They shall have been 
citizens and inhabitants of the State four years, and inhabitants 
of their respective districts one year next before their election 
(unless absent on the public business of the United States or of 
this State) and shall reside in their respective districts during their 
terms of service. 

Sec. 6. No Senator or Representative shall, during the time 
for which he shall have been elected, be appointed to any civil office 
under this Commonwealth, and no member of Congress or other 
person holding any offxe (except of attorney-at-law or in the mili- 
tia) under the United States or this Commonwealth shall be a mem- 
ber of either House during his continuance in office. 

Sec. 7. No person hereafter convicted of embezzlement of 
public moneys, briber3^ perjury or other infamous crime, shall be 
eligible to the General Assemibly, or capable of holding any office 
of trust or profit in this Commonwealth. 

Sec. 8. The members of the General Assembly shall receive 
such salary and mileage for regular and special sessions as shall 
be fixed by law, and no other compensation whatever, whether 
for service upon committee or otherwise. No member of either 
House shall, during the term for which he may have been elected, 
receive any increase of salary, or mileage, under any law passed 
during such term. 

Sec. 9. The Senate shall, at the beginning and close of each 
regular session and at such other times as may be necessary, elect 
one of its members President pro tempore, who shall perform the 
duties of the Lieutenant-Governor, in any case of absence or dis- 
ability of that officer, and whenever the said office of Lieutenant- 
Governor shall be vacant. The House of Representatives shall 
elect one of its members as Speaker. Each House shall choose its 
other officers, and shall judge of the election and qualifications of 
its members. 

Sec. 10. A m.ajorily of each House shall constitute a quorum, 
but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day and compel 
the attendance of absent members. 

Sec. II. Each House shall have power to determine the rules 
of its proceedings and punish its members or other persons for 
contempt or disorderly behavior in its presence, to enforce obedience 
to its process, to protect its members against violence or offers of 
bribes or private solicitation, and, with the concurrence of two- 
thirds, to expel a member, but not a second time for the same 
cause, and shall have all other powers necessary for the legislature 
of a free State. A member expelled for corruption shall not there- 
after be eligible to either House, and punishment for contempt or 
disorderly behavior shall not bar an indictment for the same offence. 

Sec. 12. Eeach House shall keep a journal of its proceedings 
and from time to time publish the same, except such parts as re- 
quire secrec}^ and the 3^eas and nays of the members on any ques- 
tion shall, at the desire of any two of them, be entered on the 
journal. 

Sec. 13. The sessions of each House and of Committees of the 



THE STATE CONSTITUTION. 33 

Whole shall be open, unless when the business is such as ought to 
be kept secret. 

Sec. 14. Neither House shall, without the consent of the other, 
adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other place than that 
in which the two Houses shall be sitting. 

Sec. 15. The members of the General Assembly shall in all 
cases, except treason, felony, violation of their oath of office, and 
breach or surety of the peace, be privileged from arrest during their 
attendance at the sessions of their respective Houses and in going 
to and returning from the same; ard for any speech or debate in 
either House they shall not be questioned in any other place. 

Sec. 16. The State shall be divrded into fifty senatorial dis- 
tricts of compact and contiguous territory as nearly equal in popu- 
lation as may be, and each district shall be entitled to elect one 
Senator. Each county containing one or more ratios of population 
shall be entitled to one Senator for each ratio, and to an additional 
Senator for a surplus of population exceeding three-fifths of a 
ratio, but no county shall form a separate district unless it shall 
contain four-fifths of a ratio, except where the adjoining counties 
are each entitled to one or more Senators, when such county may 
be assigned a Senator on less than four-fifths and exceeding one- 
half of a ratio, and no county shall be divided unless entitled to 
two or more Senators. No city or county shall be entitled to sep- 
arate representation exceeding one-sixth of the whole number of 
Senators. No ward, borough or township shall be divided in the 
formation of a district. The senatorial ratio shall be ascertained by 
dividing the whole population of the State by the number fifty. 

Sec. 17. The members of the House of Representatives shall 
be apportioned among the several counties, on a ratio obtained by 
dividing the population of the State as ascertained b}" the most 
recent United States census by two hundred. Every county con- 
taining less than fi.ve ratios shall have one representative for every 
full ratio, and an additional representative when the surplus exceeds 
half a ratio ; but each county shall have at least one representative. 
Every county containing five ratios or more shall have one repre- 
sentative for every full ratio. Every city containing a population 
equal to a ratio shall elect separately its proportion of the repre- 
sentatives allotted to the county in which it is located. Every city 
entitled to more than four representatives, and every county having 
over one hundred thousand inhabitants shall be divided into dis- 
tricts of compact and contiguous territory, each district to elect its 
proportion of representatives according to its population, but no 
district shall elect more than four representatives. 

Sec. 18. The General Assembly at its first session after the 
adoption of this Constitution, and immediately after each United 
States decennial census, shall apportion the State into senatorial 
and representative districts agreeably to the provisions of the two 
next preceding sections. 

ARTICLE HI. 

Sec. I. No law shall be passed except by bill, and no bill shall 
be so altered or amended, on its passage through either House, as 
to change its original purpose. 

3 



34 THE GOVERNMENT OK PENNSYLVANIA. 

Sec. 2. No bill shall be considered, unless referred to a com- 
mittee, returned therefrom, and printed for the use of the members. 

Sec. 3. No bill, except general appropriation bills, shall be 
passed containing more than one subject, which shall be clearly 
expressed in its title. 

Sec. 4. Every bill shall be- read at length on three different 
days in each House; all amendments made thereto shall be printed 
for the use of the members before the final vote is taken on the 
bill, and no bill shall become a law, unless on its final passage the 
vote be taken by yeas and nays, the names of the persons voting for 
and against the same be entered on the journal, and a majority of 
the members elected to each House be recorded thereon as voting 
in its favor. 

Sec. 5. No amendment to bills by one House, shall, be con- 
curred in by the other, except by the vote of a majority of the 
members elected thereto, taken bw yeas and nays, and the names of 
those voting for and against recorded upon the journal thereof; 
and reports of committees of conference shall be adopted in either 
House only b}^ the vote of a majorit}^ of the members elected 
thereto, taken by yeas and nays, and the names of those voting 
recorded upon the journals. 

Sec. 6. No law shall be revived, amended, or the provisions 
thereof extended or conferred, by reference to its title only, but so 
much thereof as is revived, amended, extended or conferred shall 
be re-enacted and published at length. 

Sec. 7. The General Assembh' shall not pass any local or 
special law authorizing the creation, extension or impairing of liens ; 
regulating the afi'airs of counties, cities, townships, wards, boroughs 
or school districts ; changing the names of persons or places : chang- 
ing the venue in civil or criminal cases ; authorizing the laying out, 
opening, altering or maintaining, roads, highways, streets or alleys ; 
relating to ferries or bridges, or incorporating ferry or bridge com- 
panies, except for the erection of bridges crossing streams which 
form boundaries between this and any other State : vacating roads, 
town plats, streets or alleys ; relating to cemeteries, grave-3'ards, or 
public grounds not of the State ; authorizing the adoption or 
legitimation of children ; locating or changing county seats, erecting 
new counties or changing county lines ; incorporating cities, towns 
or villages, or changing their charters ; for the opening and con- 
ducting of elections, or fixing or changing the place of voting ; grant- 
ing divorces ; erecting new townships or boroughs, changing town- 
ship lines, borough limits or school districts ; creating offices, or 
prescribing the powers and duties of ofiicers in counties, cities, 
boroughs, townships, election or school districts ; changing the law 
of descent or succession; regulating the practice or jurisdiction of, 
or changing the rules of evidence in, an}^ judicial proceeding or 
inquiry before courts, aldermen, justices of the peace, sheriffs, com- 
missioners, arbitrators, auditors, masters in chancery or other tri- 
bunals, or providing or changing methods for the collection of 
debts, or the enforcing of judgments, or prescribing the effect of 
judicial sales of real estate ; regulating the fees, or extending the 
powers and duties of aldermen, justices of the peace, magistrates 
or constables ; regulating the management of public schools, the 
building or repairing of school-houses and the raising of money 



THE STATE CONSTITUTION. 35 

for such purposes : tixing the rate of interest : affecting the estates 
of minors or persons under disabihty, except after due notice to 
all parties in interest, to be recited in the special enactment : re- 
mitting tines, penalties and forfeitures, or refunding moneys legally 
paid into the treasury : exempting property from taxation : regulat- 
ing labor, trade, mining or manufacturing : creating corporations, 
or amending, renewing or extending the charters thereof : granting 
to any corporation, association or individual any special or exclu- 
sive privilege or immunity, or to any corporation, association or 
individual the right to lay down a railroad track: nor shall the Gen- 
eral Assembly indirectly enact such special or local law by the par- 
tial repeal of a general lav/ : but laws repealing local or special acts 
may be passed : nor shall any law be passed granting powers or 
privileges in any case where the granting of such powers and privi- 
leges shall have been provided for by general law, nor w^here the 
-courts have jurisdiction to grant the same or give the relief asked 
for. 

Sec. 8. Xo local or special bill shall be passed unless notice 
of the intention to apply therefor shall have been published in the 
locality where the matter or the thing to be eft'ected may be situ- 
ated, w^hich notice shall be at least thirty days prior to the intro- 
duction into the General Assembly of such bill and in the manner 
to be provided by law : the evidence of such notice having been 
published, shall be exhibited in the General Assembly before such 
act shall be passed. 

Sec. 9. The presiding officer of each House shall, in the 
presence of the House over which he presides, sign all bills and 
joint resolutions passed by the General Assembly, after their titles 
have been publich* read immediately before signing, and the fact 
of signing shall be entered on the journal. 

Sec. 10. The General Assembly shall prescribe by law the 
number, duties and compensation of the officers and employees of 
each House, and no payment shall be made from the State treasury, 
or be in any way authorized, to any person, except to an acting 
officer or employee elected or appointed in pursuance of law. 

Sec. II. No bill shall be passed giving any extra compensa- 
tion to any public officer, servant, employee, agent or contractor,' 
after services shall have been rendered or contract made, nor pro- 
viding for the payment of any claim against the Commonwealth 
without previous authority of law. 

Sec. 12. All stationer}', printing, paper and fuel used in the 
legislative and other departments of government shall be furnished, 
and the printing, binding and distributing of the laws, journals, de- 
partment reports, and all other printing and binding, and the re- 
pairing and furnishing the halls and rooms used for the meetings 
of the General Assembly and its committees, shall be performed 
imder contract to be given to the lowest responsible bidder below 
such maximum price and under such regulations as shall be pre- 
scribed by law : no member or officer of any department of the 
government shall be in any way interested in such contracts, and 
all such contracts shall be subject to the approval of the Governor, 
Auditor General and State Treasurer. 

Sec. 13. No law shall extend the term of any public officer, 



36 THE GOVERNMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

or increase or diminish his salary or emohniients, after his election' 
or appointment. 

Sec. 14. All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the 
House of Representatives, but the Senate may propose amend- 
ments as in other bills. 

Sec. 15. The general appropriation bill shall embrace nothing 
but appropriations for the ordinary expenses of the executive, legis- 
lative and judicial departments of the Commonwealth, interest on 
the public debt and for public schools ; all other appropriations shall 
be made by separate bills, each embracing but one subject. 

Sec. 16. No money shall be paid out of the treasury, except 
upon appropriations made by law, and on warrant drawn b}^ the 
proper officer in pursuance thereof. 

Sec. 17. No appropriation shall be made to any charitable or 
educational institution not under the absolute control of the Com- 
monwealth, other than normal schools established by law for the 
professional training of teachers for the public schools of the State,, 
except by a vote of tw^o-thirds of all the members elected to each 
House. 

Sec. 18. No appropriations, except for pensions or gratuities 
for military services, shall be made for charitable, educatioral or 
benevolent purposes, to an}^ person or communit}^ nor to any de- 
nominational or sectarian institution, corporation or association. 

Sec. 19. The General Assembly may make appropriations of 
money to institutions w^herein the widows of soldiers are supported' 
or assisted, or the orphans of soldiers are maintained and educated; 
but such appropriations shall be applied exclusiveh^ to the support 
of such w^idows and orphans. 

Sec. 20. The General Assembly shall not delegate to any spe- 
cial commission, private corporation or association, any powder to 
make, supervise or interfere with any municipal improvement, 
money, property or effects, w^hether held in trust or otherwise, or 
to levy taxes or perform any municipal function whatever. 

Sec. 21. No act of the General Assembly shall limit the amount 
to be recovered for injuries resulting in death, or for injuries to 
persons or propert}^ and, in case of death from such injuries, the 
•right of action shall survive, and the General Assembly shall pre- 
scribe for whose benefit such actions shall be prosecuted. No act 
shall prescribe any limitations of time within which suits may be 
brought against corporations for injuries to persons or property, 
^or for other causes different from those fixed by general laws regu- 
lating actions against natural persons, and such acts now existing 
are avoided. 

Sec. 22. No act of the General Assembly shall authorize the 
investment of trust funds by executors, administrators, guardians 
or other trustees, in the bonds or stock of ?ny private corporation, 
and such acts now existing are avoided saving investments hereto- 
fore made. 

Sec. 23. The power to change the venue in civil and criminal 
cases shall be vested in the courts, to be exercised in such manner 
as shall be provided by law. 

Sec. ^24. No obligation or liability of any railroad or other 
corporation, held or owned by the Commonwealth, shall ever be 
exchanged, transferred, remitted, postponed or in any w^ay dimin- 



THE STATE CONSTITUTION. 



37 



iished by the General .\ssembly, nor shall such liability or obligation 
be released, except by payment thereof into the State treasury. 

Sec. 25. When the General Assembly shall be convened in 
special session, there shall be no legislation upon stibjects other 
than those designated in the proclamation of the Governor calling 
such session. 

Sec. 26. Every order, resolution or vote, to which the concur- 
rence of both Houses may be necessary, except on the question of 
adjournment, shall be presented to the Governor and before it shall 
take effect be approved by him, or being disapproved, shall be re- 
passed by two-thirds of both Houses according to the rules and 
limitations prescribed in case of a bill. 

Sec. 27. No State office shall be continued or created for the 
inspection or measuring of any merchandise, manufacture or com- 
modity, but any county or municipality may appoint such officers 
when authorized b3' law. 

Sec. 28. No law changing the location of the Capital of the 
State shall be valid until the same shall have been submitted to the 
qualified electors of the Commonwealth at a general election and 
ratified and approved by them. 

Sec. 29. A member of the General Assembly who shall solicit 
demand or receive, or consent to receive, directly or indirectly, for 
himself or for another, from any company, corporation or person, 
any money, office, appointment, employment, testimonial, rew^ard, 
thing of value or enjoyment, or of personal advantage, or promise 
thereof, for his vote or official influence, or for withholding the 
same, or with an understanding, expressed or implied, that his vote 
or official action shall be in any w^ay influenced thereby, or who 
shall solicit or demand any such money or other advantage, matter 
or thing aforesaid for another, as the consideration of his vote or 
official influence, or for withholding the same, or shall give or 
withhold his vote or influence in consideration of the payment or 
promise of such money, advantage, matter or thing to another, 
shall be held guilty of briberv within the meaning of this Constitu- 
tion, and shall incur the disabilities provided thereby for said of- 
fence, and such additional punishment as is or shall be provided 
iDy law. 

Sec. 30. xAny person who shall, directly or indirectly, ofl^er, 
give or premise, any money, or thing of value, testimonial, privi- 
lege or personal advantage, to any executive or judicial offxer, or 
member of the General Assembly, to influence him in the perform- 
ance of any of his public or official duties, shall be guilty of bribery 
zmd be punished in such manner as shall be provided by law^ 

Sec. 31. The offence of corrupt solicitation of members of 
the General Assembly or of public officers of the State or of any 
municipal division thereof, and any occupation or practice of solici- 
tation of such members or offxers to influence their official action, 
shall be defined by law and shall be punished by fine and imprison- 
Tnent. 

Sec. 32. Any person may be compelled to testify in any lawful 
investigation or judicial proceeding against any person who may be 
charged with having committed the offence of bribery or corrupt 
solicitation, or practices of solicitation, and shall not be permitted 
to withhold his testimony upon the ground that it may criminate 



38 THE GOVERNMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

himself or subject him to public infamy; but such testimony shall. 
not afterwards be used against him in any judicial proceeding,^ ex- 
cept for perjury in giving such testimony, and any person convicted 
of either of the offences aforesaid shall, as part of the punishment 
therefor, be disqualified from holding any office or position of 
honor, trust or profit in this Commonwealth. 

Sec. SS- A member w^ho has a personal or private interest in 
any measure or bill proposed or pending before the General As- 
sembly shall disclose the fact to the House of which he is a mem- 
ber, and shall not vote thereon. 



ARTICLE IV. 

Sec. I. The executive department of this Commonwealth shall' 
consist of a Governor, Lieutenant-Governor, Secretary of the Com- 
monwealth, Attorney-General, Auditor-General, State Treasurer, 
Secretar}^ of Internal Affairs and a Superintendent of Public In- 
struction. 

Sec. 2. The supreme executive power shall be vested in the 
Governor, who shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed ; 
he shall be chosen on the day of the general election, by the quali- 
fied electors of the Commonwealth, at the places where they shall 
vote for Representatives. The returns of every election for Gover- 
nor shall be sealed up and transmitted to the seat of government, 
directed to the President of the Senate, who shall open and publish 
them in the presence of the members of both Houses of the General 
Assembly. The person having the highest number of votes shall 
be Governor, but if tw^o or more be equal and highest in votes, one 
of them shall be chosen Governor by the joint vote of the members- 
of both Houses. Contested elections shall be determined by a com- 
mittee, to be selected from both Houses of the General Assembly, 
and formed and regulated in such manner as shall be directed by 
law. 

Sec. 3. The Governor shall hold his office during four 3'ears- 
from the third Tuesday of January next ensuing his election, and' 
shall not be eligible to the office for the next succeeding term. 

Sec. 4. A Lieutenant-Governor shall be chosen at the same 
time, in the same manner, for the same term, and subject to the 
same provisions as the Governor; he shall be President of the Sen- 
ate, but shall have no vote unless they be equalh' divided. 

Sec. 5. No person shall be eligible to the office of Governor or 
Lieutenant-Governor except a citizen of the United States, who* 
shall have attained the age of thirty years, and have been seven 
years next preceding his election an inhabitant of the State, unless 
he shall have been absent on the public business of the United 
States or of this State. 

Sec. 6. No member of Congress or person holding any office 
under the United States or this State shall exercise the office of 
Governor or Lieutenant-Governor. 

Sec. 7. The Governor shall be commander-in-chief of the 
army and navy of the Commonwealth, and of the militia, except 
when they shall be called into the actual service of the United 
States. 



THE STATE CONSTITUTION. 



39 



Sec. 8. He shall ncminate ard, by arc! with the advice and 
consent of two-thirds of all the members of the Senate, appoint a 
Secretary of the Commonwealth and an Attorney-General during 
pleasure, a Superintendent of Public Instruction for four years, 
and such other officers of the Commonwealth as he is or may be 
authorized by the Constitution or by law to appoint ; he shall have 
power to fill all vacancies that may happen, in offices to which he 
may appoint, during the recess of theSenate, by granting commis- 
sions which shall expire at the end of their next session ; he shall 
have power to fill any vacancy that may happen, during the recess 
of the Senate, in the office of Auditor-General, State Treasurer, 
Secretary of Internal Affairs or Superintendent of Public Instruc- 
tion, in a judicial office, or in any other elective office which he is 
or may be authorized to fill; if the vacancy shall happen during 
the session of the Senate, the Governor shall nominate to the Sen- 
ate, before their final adjournment, a proper person to fill said 
vacanc}' : but in any such case of vacancy, in ?.n elective office, a 
person shall be chosen to said office at the next general election, 
unless the vacancy shall haopen within three calendar months im- 
mediately preceding such election, in which rase the election for 
said office shall be held at the second succeeding general election. 
Tn acting on executive nominations the Senate shall sit wdth open 
doors, ?rd, in confirming or rejecting the nominations of the Gov- 
ernor, the vote shall be taken by yeas and nays, and shall be entered 
on the jotirnal. 

Sec. 9. He shall have power to remit fines and forfeitures, 
to grant reprieves, ccmmutaticns of sentence and pardons, except 
in cases of impeachment: lut no pardon shall be granted, nor 
sentence commuted, except upon the recommendation in v/riting of 
the Lieutenant-Governor, Secretary of the Common w^ealth, At- 
torney-General and Secretary of Internal Affairs, or any three of 
them, after full hearing, upon due public notice and in ooen session, 
and such recommendation, with the reasons therefor at length, shall 
be recorded and hied in the office of the Secretary of the Common- 
w^ealth. 

Sec. TO. He n^ay require information in vrriting from the of- 
ficers of the executive department, upon any subject relating to the 
duties of their respective offixes. 

Sec. II. He shall, from time to time, give to the General As- 
sembly information of the state of the Commonwealth, and recom- 
mend to their consideration such measures as he may judge expe- 
dient. 

Sec. 12. He may, on extraordinary occasions, convene the 
General Assemibb/, and in case of disagreement betw^een the tvro 
Houses, with respect to the time of adjournment, adjourn them 
to such time as he shall think proper, not exceeding four months. 
He shall have power to convene the Senate in extraordinary session 
by proclamation for the transaction of executive business. 

Sec. 13. In case of the death, conviction on impeachment, 
failure to qualify, resignation or other disability of the Governor. 
the powers, duties and emoluments of the office for the remainder 
of the term, or until the diirability be removed, shall devolve upon 
the Lieutenant-Governor. 



40 THE GOVERNMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

Sec. 14. In case of a vacancy in the office of the Lieutenant- 
Governor, or when the Lieutenant-Governor shall be impeached by 
the House of Representatives, or shall be unable to exercise the 
duties of his office, the powers, duties and emoluments thereof for 
the remainder of the term, or until the disability be removed, shall 
devolve upon the President pro tempore of the Senate; and the 
President pro tempore of the Senate shall in like manner become 
Governor if a vacancy or disabilit}'- shall occur in the office of 
Governor; his seat as Senator shall become vacant whenever he 
shall become Governor, and shall be filled by election as any other 
vacancy in the Senate. 

Sec. 15. Every bill which shall have passed both Houses shall 
be presented to the Governor ; if he approve he shall sign it, but if 
he shall not approve he shall return it with his objections to the 
House in which it shall have originated, which House shall enter 
the objections at large upon their journal, and proceed to recon- 
sider it. If, after such reconsideration, two-thirds of all the mem- 
bers elected to that House shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be 
sent with the objections to the other House by which likewise it 
shall be reconsidered, and if approved by two-thirds of all the 
members elected to that House it shall be a law ; but in such cases 
the votes of both Houses shall be determined by yeas and nays, 
and the names of the members voting for and against the bill shall 
be entered on the journals of each House, respectively. If. any 
bill shall not be returned by the Governor within ten days after 
it shall have been presented to him, the same shall be a law in like 
manner as if he had signed it, unless the General Assembl}^ b}^ 
their adjournment, prevent its return, in which case it shall be a 
law, unless he shall file the same, with his objections, in the office 
of the Secretary of the Commonwealth, and give notice thereof by 
public proclamation within thirty days after such adjournment. 

Sec. 16. The Governor shall have power to disapprove of any 
item or items of any bill, making appropriations of money, em- 
bracing distinct items, and the part or parts of the bill approved 
shall be the law, and the item or items of appropriation disapproved 
shall be void, unless repassed according to the rules and limitations 
prescribed for the passage of other bills over the executive veto. 

Sec. 17. The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court shall pre- 
side upon the trial of any contested election of Governor or Lieu- 
tenant-Governor and shall decide questions regarding the admissi- . 
bility of evidence, and shall, upon request of the committee, pro- 
nounce his opinion upon other Questions of law involved in the trial. 
The Governor ai:d Lieuter ant-Governor shall exercise the duties of 
their respective offices until their successors shall be duly qualified. 

Sec. 18. The Secretary of the Commonwealth shall keep a 
record of all offxial acts and proceedings of the Governor, and 
when required lay the same, with all papers, minutes and vouchers 
relating thereto, before either branch of the General Assembly, 
and perform such other duties as may be enjoined upon him by law. 

Sec. 19. The Secretary of Internal Affairs shall exercise all 
the powers and perform all the duties of the Surveyor-General, 
subject to such changes as shall be made by law. His department 
shall embrace a bureau of industrial statistics, and he shall dis- 
charge such duties relating to corporations, to the charitable insti- 



THE STATE CONSTITUTION. 



41 



-tiitions, the agricultural, mainifacturing, mining, mineral, timber 
and other material or business interests of the State ^ may be 
prescribed by law. He shall annually, and at such other times as 
may be required by law, make report to the General Assembly. 

Sec. 20. The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall exer- 
cise all the powers and perform all the duties of the Superintendent 
of Common Schools, subject to such changes as shall be made by 
law. 

Sec. 21. The term of the Secretary of Internal Affairs shall 
Idc four years : of the Auditor-General three years : and of the 
State Treasurer two years. These officers shall be chosen by the 
qualified electors of the State at general elections. No person 
elected to the off.ce of Auditor-General or State Treasurer shall be 
capable of holding the same office for two consecutive terms. 

Sec. 22. The present Great Seal of Pennsylvania shall be the 
seal of the State. AH commissions shall be in the name and by 
authority of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and be sealed 
with the State seal anci signed by the Governor. 

ARTICLE V. 

Sec. I. The judicial powder of this Commonwealth shall be 
vested in a Supreme Court, in courts of Common Pleas, courts of 
"Oyer and Terminer and General jail Deliver}^ courts of Quarter 
Sessions of the Peace, Orphans' Courts, Magistrates' Courts, and 
in such other courts as the General Assembly may frqm time to 
time establish. 

Sec. 2. The Supreme Court shall consist of seven judges, who 
shall be elected by the qualified electors of the State at large. They 
shall hold their offices for the term of twenty-one years, if they 
so long behave themselves well, but shall not be again eligible. The 
judge whose commission shall first expire shall be chief justice, 
and thereafter each judge whose commission shall first expire shall 
-in turn be chief justice. 

Sec. 3. The jurisdiction of the Supreme Court shall extend 
over the State, and the judges thereof shall, by virtue of their 
offices, be justices of O^^er and Terminer and General Jail Deliver}- 
in the several counties; they shall have original jurisdiction in 
cases of injunction where a corporation is a party defendant, of 
habeas corpus, of mandamvs to courts of inferior jurisdiction, and 
of quo zi-arrauio as to all officers of the Commonwealth w^hose 
jurisdiction extends over the State, but shall not exercise any other 
original jurisdiction:; they shall have appellate jurisdiction by ap- 
-peal, certiorari or writ of error in all cases, as is now^ or may here- 
after be provided by law. 

Sec. 4. Until otherwise directed by law, the courts of Common 
Pleas shall continue as at present established, except as herein 
changed ; not more than four counties shall at any time be includ- 
ed in one judic'al district organized for said courts. 

Sec. 5. W henever a county shall contain forty thousand in- 
liabitants it shall constitute a separate judicial district, and shall 
dect one judge learned in the law; and the General Assembly shall 
-provide for additional judges, as the business of the said districts 
jmay require. Counties containing a population less than is suffi- 



42 THE GOVERNMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

cient to constitute separate districts shall be formed into convenient 
single districts, or, if necessary, may be attached to contiguous dis- 
tricts as *the General Assembly may provide. The office of as- 
sociate judge, not learned in the law, is abolished in counties form- 
ing separate districts; but the several associate judges in office- 
when this Constitution shall be adopted shall serve for their un- 
expired terms. 

Sec. 6. In the counties of Philadelphia and Allegheny all the 
jurisdiction and powers now vested in the District courts and courts 
of Common Pleas, subject to such changes as may be made by this 
Constitution or by law, shall be in Philadelphia vested in four, and 
in Allegheny in two, distinct and separate courts of equal and co- 
ordinate jurisdiction, composed of three judges each; the said' 
courts in Philadelphia shall be designated respectiveh^ as the court of 
Common Pleas number one, number two, number three and number 
four, and in Allegheny as the court o'f Common Pleas number 
one and number two, but the number of said courts may be by law- 
increased, from time to time, and shall be , in like manner desig- 
nated by successive numbers; the number of judges in any of said 
courts, or in any county where the establishment of an additional 
court may be authorized by law, may be increased from time to 
time, and whenever such increase shall amount in the whole to^ 
three, such three judges shall compose a distinct and separate court 
as aforesaid, which shall be numbered as aforesaid. In Philadel- 
phia all suits shall be instituted in the said courts of Common- 
Pleas withjDut designating the number of said court, and the sev- 
eral courts shall distribute ard apportion the business among them 
in such manner as shall be provided by rules of court, and each court 
to which any suit shall thus be assigned, shall have exclusive juris- 
diction thereof, subject to change of venue, as shall be provided by 
law. In Allegheny each court shall have exclusive jurisdiction of 
all proceedings at law and in equity, commenced therein, subject to- 
change of venue as may be provided by law. 

Sec. 7. For Philadelphia there shall be one prothonotar,v's of- 
fice, and one prothonotar}^ for all said courts to be appointed b}' the 
judges of said courts, and to hold office for three years, subjecr 
to removal by a majority of the said judges; the said prothonotary 
shall appoint such assistants as may be necessary and authorized 
by said courts ; and he and his assistants shall receive fixed salaries, 
to be determined by law and paid by said county; all fees collected 
in said office, except such as may be by law due to the Common- 
wealth, shall be paid by the prothonotary into the county treasur}'. 
Each court shall have its separate dockets, except the judgment 
docket, which shall contain the judgments and liens of all the said: 
courts, as. is or may be directed by lav/. 

Sec. 8. The said courts in the counties of Philadelphia and' 
Alleghen}^ respectiveh^, shall, from time to time, in turn detail one 
or more of their judges to hold the courts of Oyer and Terminer 
and the courts of Quarter Sessions of the Peace of said counties,. 
in such manner as may be directed by law. 

Sec. 9. Judges of the courts of Common Pleas learned in the 
law shall be judges of the courts of Oyer and Terminer, Quarter 
Sessions of the Peace and General Jail Delivery, and of the Or- 



THE STATE CONSTITUTION. 



4S 



phans' Court, and within their respective districts shall be Justices 
of the Peace as to criminal matters. 

Sec. 10. The judges of the courts of Common Pleas within 
their respective counties shall have power to issue writs of cer- 
tiorari to justices of the peace and other inferior courts not of 
record, and to cause their proceeding to be brought before them, and 
right and justice to be done. 

Sec. II. Except as otherwise provided in this Constitution, 
justices of the peace or aldermen shall be elected in the several 
wards, districts, boroughs and townships at the time of the election 
of constables, b}' the qualified electors thereof, in such manner as 
shall be directed by law, and shall be commissioned by the Governor 
for a term of hve years. Xo township, ward, district or borough 
shall elect more than two justices of the peace or aldermen without 
the consent of a majority of the qualified electors within such town- 
ship, ward or borough ; no person shall be elected to such office 
unless he shall have resided within the towrship, l^orough, v/ard or 
district for one year next preceding his election. In cities contain- 
ing over fifty thousand inhabitants, not more than one alderman 
shall be elected in each ward or district. 

Sec. 12. In Philadelphia there shall be established, for each 
thirty thousand inhabitants, one court, not of record, of police and 
civil cases, with jurisdiction not exceedin.s: one hundred dollars : 
such courts shall be held by magistrates whose term of office shall 
be five years, and they shall be elected on general ticket by the 
qualified voters at large : ard in th^ election of the said magis- 
trates no voter shall vote for more than two-thirds of the number 
of persons to be elected when more than one .are to be chosen : 
they shall be compensated only by fixed salaries, to be paid by said 
county; and shall exercise such jurisdiction, civil and criminal, 
except as herein provided, as is nov\^ exercised by aldermen, sub- 
ject to such chan.ees, not involving an increase of civil jurisdiction 
or conferring political duties, as mav be made by law. In Phila- 
delphia the office of alderman is abolished. 

Sec. 13. All fees, fines and penalties in saiel courts shall be 
paid into the county treasury. 

Sec. 14. In all cases of summary conviction in this Common- 
wealth, or of judgment in suit for a penalty before a magistrate, 
or court not of record, either party may appeal to such court of 
record as m.ay be prescribed by law^ upon allowance of the appellate 
court or judge thereof upon cause shown. 

Sec. 15. All judges required to be learned in the law, except 
the judges of the Supreme Court, shall be elected by the qualified" 
electors of the respective districts over which they are to preside, 
and shall hold their offices for the period of ten years, if they shalF 
so long behave themselves well : but for any reasonable cause, which 
shall not be sufficient ground for impeachment, the Governor may 
remove any of them on the address of two-thirds of each House 
of the General Assembly. 

Sec. 16. Whenever two judges of the Supreme Court are to 
be chosen for the same term of service each voter shall vote for 
one only, and when three are to be chosen he shall vote for no 
more than two: candidates highest in vote sh?<ll be declared elected- 

Sec. 17. Should any two or more judges of the Supreme 



-44 



THE GOVERXMEXT OF PEXXSYLVAXIA. 



Court, or any two or more judges of the court of Common Pleas 
for the same district, be elected at the same time, they shall, as 
soon after the election as convenient, cast lots for priority of com- 
mission, and certify the result to the Governor, who shall issue 
their commissions in accordance therewith. 

Sec. i8. The judges of the Supreme Court and the judges of 
the several courts of Common Fleas, and all other judges required 
to be learned in the law, shall at stated times receive for their 
services an adequate compensation, which shall be fixed by law, 
and paid by the State. They shall receive no other compensation, 
fees or perquisites of office for their services from any source, nor 
"hold any other office of profit under the United States, this State or 
;any other State. 

Sec. 19. The judges of the Supreme Court, during their con- 
tinuance in office, shall reside within this Commonv/ealth ; and the 
•other judges, during their continuance in office, shall reside within 
the districts for which they shall be respectively elected. 

Sec. 20. The several courts of Common Pleas, besides the 
-powers herein conferred, shall have and exercise within their re- 
spective districts, subject to such changes as may be made by law, 
such chancery powers as are now vested b}' law in the several courts 
of Common Pleas of this Commonwealth, or as may hereafter be 
conferred upon them by law. 

Sec. 21. X^o duties shall be imposed by law upon the Supreme 
Court or any of the judges thereof except such as are judicial, nor 
shall any of the judges thereof exercise any power of appointment 
except as herein provided. The court of Nisi Priiis is hereby abol- 
ished, and no court of original jurisdiction to be presided over by 
any one or more of the judges of the Supreme Court shall be es- 
tablished. 

Sec. 22. In every county wherein the population shall exceed 
one hundred and fifty thousard the General Assembly shall, and in 
.any other county may, establish a separate Orphans' Court to con- 
sist of one or more judges who shall be learned in the law, which 
court shall exercise all the jurisdiction and powers now vested in 
or which may hereafter be conferred upon the Orphans' courts, and 
thereupon the jurisdiction of the judges of the court of Common 
Pleas within such county, in Orphans' court proceedings, shall 
•cease and determine. In any county in w^hich a separate Orphans' 
Court shall be established, the register of wills shall be clerk of 
such court and subject to its directions in all matters pertaining to 
his office ; he ma}' appoint assistant clerks, but onh' with the consent 
and approval of said court. All accounts filed w^ith him as register 
or as clerk of the said separate Orphans' Court shall be audited 
by the court without expense to parties, except where all parties 
4n. interest in a pending proceeding shall nominate an auditor whom 
the court may, in its discretion, appoint. .In every county Orphans' 
Courts shall possess all the powers and jurisdiction of a Registers' 
•court, and separate Registers' courts are hereby abolished. 

Sec. 23. The style of all process shall be " The Commonwealth 
of Pennsylvania." All prosecutions shall be carried on in the name 
and by the authority of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and 
<4:onclude '' against the peace and dignity of the same." 

Sec. 24. In all cases of felonious homicide, and in such other 



THE STATE CONSTITUTION. 45; 

criminal cases as may be provided for by law, the accused after 
conviction and sentence may remove the indictment, record and all 
proceedings to the Supreme Court for review. 

Sec. 25. Any vacancy happening by death, resignation or other- 
wise, in any court of record, shall be tilled by appointment by the 
Governor, to continue till the first Monday of January next suc- 
ceeding the first general election which shall occur three or more 
months after the happening of such vacancy. 

Sec. 26. All laws relating to courts shall be general and of 
uniform operation, ard the organization, jurisdiction and powers 
of all courts of the same class or grade, so far as regulated by law, 
and the force and effect of the process and judgments of such 
courts, shall be uniform; and the General Assembly is hereby pro- 
hibited from creating other courts to exercise the powers vested' 
by this Constitution in the judges of the courts of Common Pleas 
and Orphans' courts. 

Sec. 27. The parties, by agreement filed, may in any civil case- 
dispense with trial by jury, and submit the decision of . such case 
to the court having jurisdiction thereof, and such court shall hear 
and determine the same; and the judgment thereon shall be subject 
to writ of error as in other cases. 

ARTICLE VI. 

Sec. I. The House of Representatives shall have the sole 
power of impeachment. 

Sec. 2. All impeachments shall be tried by the Senate ; when, 
sitting for that purpose the Senators shall be upon oath or affirma- 
tion; no person shall be convicted without the concurrence of two- 
thirds of the members present. 

Sec. 3. The Governor snd all other civil officers shall be liable 
to impeachment for any misdemeanor in office, but judgment in such 
cases shall not extend further than to removal from office and dis- 
qualification to hold any office of trust or profit under this Common- 
wealth ; the person accused, whether convicted or acquitted, shall 
nevertheless be liable to indictment, trial, judgment and punishment, 
according to law. 

Sec. 4. A.ll officers shall hold their offices on the condition that . 
they behave themselves well while in off.ce, and shall be removed on 
conviction of misbehavior in office or of any infamous crime. Ap- 
pointed officers, other than judges of the courts of record and the 
Superintendent of Public Instruction, may be removed at the 
pleasure of the power by which they shall have been appointed. 
All officers elected by the people, except Governor, Lieutenant-Gov- 
ernor, members of the General Assembly and judges of the courts 
of record learned in the law, shall be removed b}^ the Governor for 
reasonable cause, after due notice and full hearing, on the address 
of two-thirds of the Senate. 

ARTICLE VII. 

Sec. I. Senators and Representatives and all judicial, State 
and county officers shall, before entering on the duties of their re- 
spective offices, take and subscribe the following oath or affirmation: 



46 THE GOVERNMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

" I do solemnl}' swear (or affirm) that I will support, obey and 
•defend the Constitution of the United States, and the Constitution 
of this Commonwealth, and that I will discharge the duties of my 
office with lidelity ; that I have not paid or contributed, or prom- 
ised to pay or contribute, either directly or indirecth^ any money 
or other valuable thing, to procure m}- nomination or election, (or 
.appointment), except for necessary and proper expenses expressly 
authorized by law ; that I have not know^ingly violated any election 
law of this Commonwealth, or procured it to be done by others in 
my behalf ; that I will not knowingly receive, directly or indirectly, 
.^n}' money or other valuable thing for the performance or non- 
performance of any act or duty pertaining to my office, other than 
the compensation allowed by law." 

The foregoing oath shall be administered by some person au- 
thorized to administer oaths, and in case of State officers and 
judges of the Supreme Court, shall be filed in the office of the Sec- 
retary of the Commonwealth, and in the case of other judicial and 
count}' officers, in the office of the prothonotary of the county in 
-^vhich the same is taken ; any person refusing to take said oath or 
affirmation shall forfeit his office : and any person who shall be 
^convicted of having sworn or affirmed falseh% or of having violated 
said oath or affirmation, shall be guilt}- of perjury, and be forever 
'disqualified from holding any office of trust or profit w^ithin this 
Commonwealth. The cath to the members of the Senate and House 
of Representatives shall be administered by one of the judges of 
the Supreme Court, or of a court of Common Pleas, learned in the 
law, in the hall of the House to which the members shall be elected. 

ARTICLE VIII. 

Sec. I. (Amendment I) Every male citizen tw^enty-one years 
^of age, possessing the following qualifications, shall be entitled to 
vote at all elections, subject however to such laws requiring and 
regulating the registration of electors as the General Assembly 
•may enact : 

I. He shall have been a citizen of the United States at least 
•one month. 

. 2. He shall have resided in the State one year (or, having 
■previously been a qualified elector or native-born citizen of the 
State, he shall have removed therefrom and returned, then six 
months), immediately preceding the election. 

3. He shall have resided in the election district w^here he shall 
oft'er to vote at least two months immediately preceding the election. 

4. If twenty-one years of age and upwards, he shall have paid 
within two years a State or county tax, w^hich shall have been as- 
sessed at least tw^o months and paid at least one month before the 
election. 

Sec. 2. The general election shall be held annually on the 
Tuesday next following the first Monday of November, but the 
General Assembly may by law fix a different day, two-thirds of 
all the members of each House consenting thereto. 

Sec. 3. All elections for city, ward, borough and township 
officers, for regular terms of service shall be held on the third Tues- 
day of Februarv, 



THE STATE CONSTITUTION. 



47 



Sec. 4. (Amendment II) All elections by the citizens shall 
Ibe by 1 allot or by such other method as may be prescribed by law: 
Provided, That secrecy in voting be preserved. 

Sec. 5. Electors shall in all cases except treason, felony and 
breach or surety of the peace, be privileged from arrest during their 
-attendance on elections and in going to and returning therefrom. 

Sec. 6. Whenever any of the qualihed electors of this Com- 
monwealth shall be in actual military service, under a requisition 
from .the President of the United States, or by authority of this 
Commonwealth, such electors may exercise the right of suffrage in 
,all elections by the citizens, under such regulations as are or shall 
be prescribed by law, as fully as if they were present at their usual 
places of election. 

Sec. 7. (Amendment III) All laws regulating the holding of 
■elections by the citizens or for the registration of electors shall be 
imiform throughout the State, but laws regulating and requiring 
-the registration of electors ma}^ be enacted to apply to cities only : 
Provided, That such law^s be uniform for cities of the same class. 

Sec. 8. A.ny person who shall give, or promise or offer to give, 
-to an elector, any money, reward or other valuable consideration 
for his vote at an election, or for withholding the same, or who 
shall give or promise to give such consideration to any other per- 
son or party for such elector's vote or for the withholding thereof, 
and any elector who shall receive or agree to receive, for himself 
or for another, an}- money, reward or other valuable consideration 
for his vote at an election, or for withholding the same shall there- 
by forfeit the right to vote at such election, and any elector whose 
right to vote shall be challenged for such cause before the election 
officers shall be required to swear or affirm that the matter of the 
challenge is untrue before his vote shall be received. 

Sec. 9. Any person w^ho shall, while a candidate for office, be 
guilty of briber}', fraud, or wilful violation of any election law% 
shall be forever disqualified from holding an office of trust or profit 
in this Commonwealth; and any person convicted of wilful viola- 
tion of the election laws shall, in addition to any penalties provided 
"by law, be deprived of the right of suff'rage absolutely for a term of 
four years. 

Sec. 10. In trials of contested elections and in proceedings for 
the investigation of elections, no person shall be permitted to with- 
hold his testimony upon the ground that it may criminate himself 
■or subject him to public infamy; but such testimon}' shall not after- 
wards be used against him in any judicial proceeding except for 
perjury in giving such testimony. 

Sec. II. Townships, and wards of cities or boroughs, shall 
form or be divided into election districts of compact and contiguous 
territory, in such manner as the court of Quarter Sessions of the 
city or county in which the same are located may direct ; but dis- 
tricts in cities of over one thousand inhabitants shall be divided 
by the courts of Quarter Sessions, having jurisdiction therein, 
whenever at the next preceding election more than two hundred 
and fifty votes shall have been polled therein ; and other election 
districts whenever the court of the proper county shall be of opinion 
that the convenience of the electors and the public interests wdll be 
promoted thereby. 



48 THE GOVERNMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

Sec. 12. All elections by persons in a representative capacit}^ 
shall be z'iz'ci voce. 

Sec. 13. For the purpose of voting no person shall be deemed 
to have gained a residence by reason of his presence, or lost it by 
reason of his absence, while employed in the service, either civil or 
military, of this State or of the United States, nor while engaged in 
the navigation of the waters of the State or of the United States, 
or on the high seas, nor while a student of any institution of learn- 
ing, nor while in any poorhouse or other asylum at public expense,, 
nor while confined in public prison. 

Sec. 14. District election beards shall consist of a judge and 
tAvo inspectors, who shall be chosen annually by the citizens. Each 
elector shall have the right to vote for the judge and one inspector, 
and each inspector shall appoint one clerk. The first election board' 
for any new district shall be selected, and vacancies in election 
boards filled, as shall be provided by law. Election officers shall be 
privileged from arrest upon days of election, and while engaged 
in making up and transmitting returns, except upon warrant of a 
court of record or judge thereof, for an election fraud, for felony, 
or for wanton breach of the peace. In cities they may claim ex- 
emption from jury duty during their terms of service. 

Sec. 15. No person shall be qualified to serve as an election 
officer who shall hold, or shall within two months have held any 
office, appointment or employment in or under the government of 
the United States or of this State, or of any city, or county, or of 
any municipal board, commission or trust in any city, save only jus- 
tices of the peace and aldermen, notaries public and persons in the 
militia service of the State ; nor shall anj^ election officer be eligible 
to any civil office to be filled at an election at which he shall serve, 
save only to such subordinate municipal or local offices, below the- 
grade of city or county offices, as shall be designated by general law. 

Sec. 16. The courts of Common Pleas of the several counties 
of the Commonwealth shall have power, within their respective 
jurisdictions, to appoint overseers of election to supervise the pro- 
ceedings of election officers and to make report to the court as 
may be required ; such appointments to be made for any district in 
a city or county upon petition of five citizens, lawful voters of such 
election district, setting forth that such appointment is a reasonable 
precaution to secure the purity and fairness of elections ; overseers 
shall be two in number for an election district, shall be residents 
therein, and shall be persons qualified to serve upon election boards, 
and in each case members of different political parties ; whenever 
the members of an election beard shall differ in opinion the over- 
seers, if they shall be agreed thereon, shall decide the question of 
difference; in appointing overseers of election all the law judges 
of the proper court able to act at the time, shall concur in the ap- 
pointments made. 

Sec. 17. The trial and determination of contested elections of 
electors of President and Vice-President, members of the General 
Assembly, and of all public officers, whether State, judicial, munici- 
pal or local, shall be by the courts of law, or by one or more of the 
law judges thereof; the General Assembly shall, by general law, 
designate the courts and judges by whom the several classes of 
election contests shall be tried, and regulate the manner of trial and." 



THE STATE CONSTITUTION. 



49 



all matters incident thereto; but no such law assigning jurisdiction, 
or regulating its exercise, shall apply to any contest arising out of 
an election held before its passage. 

ARTICLE IX. 

Sec. I. All taxes shall be uniform, upon the same class of 
subjects, within the territorial limits of the authority levying the 
tax, and shall be levied and collected under the general laws ; but 
the General Assembly may, by general laws, exempt from taxa- 
tion public property used for public purposes, actual places of reli- 
gious worship, places of burial not used or held for private or cor- 
porate profit, and institutions of purely public charity. 

Sec. 2. All laws exempting property from taxation, other than 
the property above enumerated, shall be void. 

Sec. 3. The power to tax corporations and corporate property 
shall not be surrendered or suspended by any contract or grant to 
which the State shall be a party. 

Sec. 4. Xo debt shall be created by or on behalf of the State 
except to supply casual deficiencies of revenue, repel invasion, sup- 
press insurrection, defend the State in war, or to pay existing debt; 
and the debt created to supply deficiencies in revenue shall never 
exceed, in the aggregate at any one time, one million dollars. 

Sec. 5. xAll laws authorizing the borrowing of money by and 
on behalf of the State, shall specify the purpose for which the money 
is to be used, and the money so borrowed shall be used for the pur- 
pose specified and no other. 

Sec. 6. The credit of the Commonwealth shall not be pledged 
or loaned' to any individual, company, corporation or association, 
nor shall the Commonwealth become a joint-owner or stockholder 
in any company, association or corporation. 

Sec. 7. The General Assembly shall not authorize any count}^ 
city, borough, township or incorporated district to become a stock- 
holder in any company, association or corporation, or to obtain or 
appropriate money for, or to loan its credit to, any corporation, as- 
sociation, institution or individual. 

Sec. 8. The debt of any county, city, borough, township, 
school district or other municipality or incorporated district, except 
as herein provided, shall never exceed seven per centum upon the 
assessed value of the taxable property therein, nor shall any such 
municipality or district incur an}^ new debt, or increase its indebt- 
edness to an amount exceeding tw^o per centum upon such assessed 
valuation of property, without the assent of the electors thereof 
at a public election in such manner as shall be provided by law; 
but any city, the debt of which now exceeds seven per centum of 
such assessed valuation, may be authorized by law to increase the 
same three per centum, in the aggregate at any one time, upon such 
valuation. 

Sec. 9. The Commonwealth shall not assume the debt, or any 
part thereof, of any city, county, borough or township, unless such 
debt shall have been contracted to enable the State to repel invasion, 
suppress domestic insurrection, defend itself in time of war, or to 
assist the State in the discharge of any portion of its present in- 
debtedness. 



50 THE GOVERNMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

Sec. 10. An}^ county, township, school district or other muni- 
cipalit}', incurring any indebtedness shall, at or before the time of 
so doing, provide for the collection of an annual tax sufficient to 
pay the interest and also the principal thereof within thirty years. 

Sec. II. To provide for the payment of the present State debt, 
and any additional debt contracted as aforesaid, the General As- 
sembly shall continue and maintain the sinking fund, sufficient to 
pay the accruing interest on such debt, ard annually to reduce 
the principal thereof by a sum not less than two hundred and 
fifty thousand dollars : the said sinking fund shall consist of the 
proceeds of the sales of the public works or any part thereof, and 
of the income or proceeds of the sale of any stocks owned by the 
Commonwealth, together with other funds and resources that may 
be designated by law, and shall be increased from time to time by 
assigning to it any part of the taxes or other revenues of the State 
not required for the ordinary and current expenses of government ; 
and unless in case of war, invasion or insurrection, no part of the 
said sinking fund shall be used or applied otherwise than in the 
extinguishment of the public debt. 

Sec. 12. The moneys of the State, over and above the neces- 
sary reserve, shall be used in the payment of the debt of the State, 
either directly or through the sinking fund, and the moneys of the 
sinking fund shall never be invested in or loaned upon the securit)^ 
of anything, except the bonds of the United States, or of this State. 

Sec. 13. The moneys held as necessary reserve shall be lim- 
ited by law to the amount required for current expenses, and shall 
be secured and kept as mav be provided by law. Monthly state- 
ments shall be published showing the amount of such moneys, where 
the same are deposited, and how secured. 

Sec. 14. The making of profit out of the public moneys, or 
using the same for any purpose not authorized by law by any of- 
ficer of the State, or member or officer of the General Assembly, 
shall be a misdemeanor and shall be punished as ma}^ be provided 
by law, but part of such punishment shall be disqualification to hold 
office for a period of not less than five years. 

ARTICLE X. 

Sec. I. The General Assembly shall provide for the mainte- 
nance and support of a thorough and efficient system of public 
schools, wherein all the children of this Commonw^ealth above the 
age of six years may be educated, and shall appropriate at least 
one million dollars each year for that purpose. 

Sec. 2. No mone}' raised for the support of the public schools 
of the Commonwealth shall be appropriated or used for the sup- 
port of any sectarian school. 

Sec. 3. Women twenty-one years of , age and upwards, shall 
be eligible to any office of control or management under the school 
laws of this State. 

ARTICLE XL 

Sec. I. The freemen of this Commonwealth shall be armed, 
organized and disciplined for its defence when and in such manner 



THE STATE CONSTITUTION. 51 

as may be directed by law. The General Assembly shall provide 
for maintaining the militia by appropriations from the treasury of 
the Commonwealth, and may exempt frorn military service persons 
iiaving conscientious scruples against bearing arms. 

ARTICLE XII. 

Sec. I. All officers, whose selection is not provided for in this 
Constitution, shall be elected or appointed as may be directed by 
law. 

Sec. 2. Xo member of Congress from this State, nor any per- 
son holding or exercising any office or appointment of trust or 
profit under the United States, shall at the same time hold or exer- 
<:ise any office in this State to which a salary, fees or perquisites 
shall be attached. The General Assembly may by law declare what 
offices are incompatible. 

Sec. 3. Any person who shall fight a duel or send a challenge 
for that purpose, or be aider or abettor in fighting a duel, shall be 
-deprived of the right of holding any office of honor or profit in 
this State, and may be otherwise punished as shall be prescribed 
"by law. 

ARTICLE XIII. 

Sec. I. X^o new county shall be established which shall reduce 
any county to less than four hundred square miles, or to less than 
twenty thousand inhabitants ; nor shall any county be formed of 
less area, or containing a less population ; nor shall any line thereof 
■pass within ten miles of the county seat of any county proposed to 
i^e divided. 

ARTICLE XIV. 

Sec. I. County officers shall consist of sherift's, coroners, pro- 
thonotaries, registers of wills, recorders of deeds, commissioners, 
treasurers, surve3'ors, auditors or controllers, clerks of the courts, 
district attorneys and such others as may from time to time be 
established by law : and no sheriff or treasurer shall be eligible for 
the term next succeeding the one for which he may be elected. 

Sec. 2. County officers shall be elected at the general elections 
and shall hold their offices for the term of three years, beginning 
on the first Monday in January next after their election, and until 
their successors shall be duly qualified ; all vacancies not otherwise 
provided for shall be filled in such manner as may be provided 
iDy law. 

Sec. 3. Xo person shall be appointed to any office within any 
<:ounty, who shall not have been a citizen and an inhabitant therein 
•one year next before his appointment, if the county shall have been 
so long erected, but if it shall not have been so long erected, then 
v^ithin the limits of the county or counties out of which it shall 
liave been taken. 

Sec. 4. Prothonotaries, clerks of the courts, recorders of deeds, 
registers of wills, county surveyors and sheriffs, shall keep their 
offices in the county town of the county in which they respectively 
5hall be officers.* 



52 



THE GOVERNMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA. 



Sec. 5. The compensation of county officers shall be regulated 
by law, and all county officers who are or may be salaried shall pay 
all fees which the}^ may be authorized to receive, into the treasury 
of the county or State, as may be directed by law. In counties con- 
taining over one hundred and fifty thousand inhabitants all county 
officers shall be paid by salary, and the salary of any such officer 
and his clerks, heretofore paid by fees, shall not exceed the aggre- 
gate amount of fees earned during his term and collected by or 
for him. 

Sec. 6. The General Assembly shall provide by law for the 
strict accountability of all county, township and borough officers, 
as well as for the fees which may be collected by them, as for all 
public or municipal monej-s w^hich may be paid to them. 

Sec. 7. Three county commissioners and three county auditors 
shall be elected in each county where such officers are chosen,, 
in the year one thousand eight hundred and seventy-live and every 
third year thereafter; and in the election of said officers each quali- 
fied elector shall vote for no more than two persons, and the three 
persons having the highest number of votes shall be elected ; any 
casual vacancy in the office of county commissioner or county au- 
ditor shall be filled, by the court of Common Pleas of the county 
in which such vacancy shall occur, by the appointment of an elector 
of the proper county who shall have voted for the commissioner 
or auditor whose place is to be filled. 

ARTICLE XV. 

Sec. I. Cities may be chartered whenever a majorit}^ of the 
electors of any town or borough having a population of at least ten 
thousand shall vote at any general election in favor of the same. 

Sec. 2. No debt shall be contracted or liability incurred by 
any municipal commission, except in pursuance of an appropriation 
previously made therefor by the municipal government. 

Sec. 3. Every city shall create a sinking fund, which shall be 
inviolably pledged for the payment of its funded debt. 

ARTICLE XVI. 

Sec. I. All existing charters, or grants of special or exclusive 
privileges, under which a bona fide organization shall not have taken 
place and business been commenced in good faith, at the time of 
the adoption of this Constitution, shall thereafter have no validity. 

Sec. 2. The General Assembly shall not remit the forfeiture 
of the charter of any corporation now existing, or alter or amend 
the same, or pass any other general or special law for the benefit 
of such corporation, except upon the condition that such corpora- 
tion shall thereafter hold its charter subject to the provisions of 
this Constitution. 

Sec. 3. The exercise of the right of eminent domain shall' 
never be abridged or so construed as to prevent the General As- 
sembly from taking the property and franchises of incorporated 
companies, and subjecting them to public use, the same as the 
property of individuals ; and the exercise of the police power of 
the State shall never be abridged or so construed ais to permit cor- 



THE STATE CONSTITUTION. . 53 

porations to conduct their lusiness in such manner as to infringe 
the equal rights of individuals or the general well-being of the 
State. 

Sec. 4. In all elections for directors or managers of a cor- 
poration each member or shareholder may cast the whole number 
of his votes for one candidate, or distribute them upon two or more 
candidates, as he may prefer. 

Sec. 5. No foreign corporation shall do any business in this 
State- without having one or more known places of business and 
an authorized agent or agents in the same upon whom process may 
be served. 

Sec. 6. Xo corporation shall engage in any business other 
than that expressly authorized in its charter, nor shall it take or 
liold any real estate except such as may be necessary and proper 
for its legitimate business. 

Sec. 7. No corporation shall issue stocks or bonds except for 
inone}', labor done, or money or property actually received ; and 
all fictitious increase of stock or indebtedness shall be void. The 
stock and indebtedness of corporations shall not be increased except 
in pursuance of general law, nor without the consent of the persons 
liolding the larger amount in value of the stock, first obtained at a 
meeting to be held after sixty days' notice given in pursuance of law. 

Sec. 8. Municipal and other corporations and individuals in- 
vested with the privilege of taking private property for public use 
shall make just compensation for property taken, injured or de- 
stroyed by the construction or enlargement of their works, high- 
ways or improvements, which compensation shall be paid or se- 
cured before such taking, injury or destruction. The General As- 
sembly is hereby prohibited from depriving any person of an appeal 
from any preliminary assessment of damages against any such cor- 
porations or individuals made by viewers or otherwise ; and the 
amount of such damages in all cases of appeal shall on the demand 
of either party be determined by a jury according to the course 
of the common law. 

Sec. 9. Ever}^ banking law shall provide for the registry and 
countersigning, by an officer of the State, of all notes or bills de- 
signed for circulation, and that ample security to the full amount 
thereof shall be deposited with the Auditor-General for the re- 
'demption of such notes or bills. 

Sec. 10. The General Assembly shall have the power to alter, 
revoke or annul any charter of incorporation now existing and re- 
vocable at the adoption of this Constitution, or any that may here- 
after be created, whenever in their opinion it ma}^ be injurious to 
the citizens of this Commonwealth, in such manner, however, that 
no injustice shall be done to the corporators. No law hereafter en- 
acted shall create, renew or extend the charter of more than one 
corporation. 

Sec. II. No corporate body to possess banking and discounting 
privileges shall be created or organized in pursuance of any law 
without three months' previous public notice, at the place of the 
■intended location, of the intention to apply for such privileges, in 
such manner as shall be prescribed by law, nor shall a charter for 
such privilege be granted for a longer period than twenty years. 



54 THE GOVERNMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

Sec. 12. Any association or corporation organized for the 
purpose, or any individual, shall have the right to construct and 
maintain lines of telegraph within this State, and to connect the 
same with other lines, and the General Assembly shall, by general 
law of uniform operation, provide reasonable regulations to give 
full effect to this section. No telegraph company shall consolidate 
with, or hold a controlling interest in the stock or bonds of, miy 
other telegraph company owning a competing line, or acquire, b>^ 
purchase or otherwise, any other competing line of telegraph. 

Sec. 13. The'term "corporations," as used in this article, shall 
be construed to include all joint-stock companies or associations- 
having any of the powers or privileges of corporations not possessed 
by individuals or partnerships. 

ARTICLE XVII. 

Sec. I. All railroads and canals shall be public highways, and 
all railroad and canal companies shall be common carriers. Any 
association or corporation organized for the purpose shall have 
the right to construct and operate a railroad between any points 
within this State, and to connect at the State line with railroads of 
other States. Every railroad company shall have the right with its 
road to intersect, connect with or cross any other railroad ; and shall 
receive and transport each the other's passengers, tonnage, and cars- 
loaded or empty, Vvithout delay or discrimination. 

Sec. 2. Every railroad and canal corporation organized in 
this State shall maintain an office therein where transfers of its 
stock shall be made, and where its books shall be kept for inspec- 
tion by an}'- stockholder or creditor of such corporation, in which 
shall be recorded the amount of capital stock subscribed or paid in, 
and by whom, the names of the owners of its stock and the amounts 
owned by them, respectively, the transfers of said stock, and the 
names and places of residence of its officers. 

Sec. 3. All individuals, associations and corporations shall 
have equal right to have persons and property transported over rail- 
roads and canals, and no undue or unreasonable discrimination shall 
be made in charges for, or in facilities for, transportation of freight 
or passengers within the State or coming from or going to an}'" 
other State. Persons and property transported over any railroad' 
shall be delivered at any station at charges not exceeding the 
charges for transportation of persons and property of the same 
class in the same direction to any more distant station ; but excur- 
sion and commutation tickets may be issued at special rates. 

Sec. 4. No railroad, canal or other corporation, or the les- 
sees, purchasers or managers of any railroad or canal corporation^ 
shall consolidate the stock, property or franchises of such corpora- 
tion with, or lease, or purchase the works or franchises of, or in 
any way control any other railroad or canal corporation owning or 
having under its control a parallel or competing line: nor shall' an}^ 
officer of such railroad or canal corporation act as an officer of anr 
other railroad or canal corporation owning or having the control 
of a parallel or competing line; and the question whether railroads 
or canals are parallel or competing lines shall, when demanded b}^ 
the party complainant, be decided by a jury as in other civil issues,. 



THE STATE CONSTITUTION. 55 

Sec. 5. No incorporated company doing the business of a com- 
mon carrier shall, directly or indirectly, prosecute or engage in 
mining or manufacturing articles for transportation over its works ; 
nor shall such compan}-, directly or indirectly, engage in any other 
l)usiness than that of common carriers, or hold or acquire lands, 
freehold or leasehold, directly or indirectly, except such as shall 
be necessary for carrying on its business ; but any mining or manu- 
facturing company may carry the products of its mines and manu- 
factories on its railroad or canal not exceeding fifty miles in length. 

Sec. 6. No president, director, officer, agent or employee of 
any railroad or canal company shall be interested, directly or in- 
directly, in the furnishing of mxaterial or supplies to such company, 
or in the business of transportation as a common carrier of freight 
or passengers over the works owned, leased, controlled or w^orked 
by such company. 

Sec. 7. No discrimiraticn in charges or facilities for trans- 
portation shall be made between transportation companies and in- 
dividuals, or in favor of either, by abatement, drawback or other- 
wise, and no railroad or canal company, or any lessee, manager or 
employee thereof, shall make any preferences in furnishing cars or 
motive power. 

Sec. 8. No railroad, railwa}- or other transportation company 
shall grant free passes, or passes at a discount, to any person ex- 
cept officers or emplo3^ees of the company. 

Sec. 9. No street passenger railw^ay shall be constructed w^ithin 
the limits of any cit}^ borough or tov/nship, without the consent of 
its local authorities. 

Sec. 10. No railroad, caral or other transportation compan}^ 
in existence at the time of the adoption of this article, shall have 
the benefit of any future legislation by general or special laws, 
except on condition of complete acceptance of all the provisions of 
this article. 

Sec. IT. The existing powers and duties of the Auditor-Gen- 
eral in regard to railroads, canals and other transportation com- 
panies, except as to their accounts, are hereby transferred to the 
Secretary ■ of Internal Affairs, who shall have a general supervi- 
sion over them, subject to such regulations and alterations as shall 
be provided by law ; and, in addition to the annual reports now 
required to be made, said Secretary may require special reports at 
any time upon any subject relating to the business of said compa- 
nies from any officer or officers thereof. 

^ Sec. 12. The General Assembl}^ shall enforce by appropriate 
legislation the provisions of this article. 

ARTICLE XVIII. 

Sec. I. Any amendment or amendments to this Constitution 
niay be proposed in the Senate or House of Representatives, and, 
if the same shall be agreed to by a majority of the members elect- 
ed to each House, such proposed amendment or amendments shall 
be entered on their journals with the yeas and nays taken thereon, 
and the Secretary of the Commonwealth shall cause the same to 
be published three months before the next general election, in at 



56 THE GOVERNMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

least two newspapers in every county in which such newspapers 
shall be published ; and if, in the General Assembly next after- 
wards chosen, such proposed amendment or amendments shall be 
agreed to by a majority of the members elected to each House, the 
Secretary of the Commonwealth shall cause the same again to be 
published in the manner aforesaid; and such proposed amendment 
or amendments shall be submitted to the qualified electors of the 
State in such manner, and at such time at least three months after 
being so agreed to by the two Houses, as the General Assembly 
shall prescribe; and, if such amendment or amendments shall be 
approved b}^ a majority of those voting thereon, such amendment 
or amendments shall become a part of the Constitution ; but no 
amendment or amendments shall be submitted oftener than once 
in five years. When two or more amendments shall be submitted 
they shall be voted upon separately. 



THE GO\'ERXMEXT OF THE STATE OF 
PEXXSYLVANIA. 

The State Constitution. The State Constitution is 
longer, more complex, and enters more into details than 
the Constitution of the United States. It embraces much 
that might ordinarily be covered by legislation but which 
it was deemed best to embody in the Constitution as a safe- 
guard against undesirable or corrupt laws on these subjects. 
In some respects it is more stringent than the United States 
Constitution, as, for example, in the passing of bills and the 
appointment of officers. 

The preamble of the Constitution states that the gov- 
ernment of the State, like that of the United States, is a 
government established by the people. It contains also the 
ordaining and establishing clause of the Constitution. 

ARTICLE I. 
The DhcIvAratiox of^ Rights. 

The preamble to this declaration of rights states the 
object to be to secure the recognition and establishment of 
the general, great, and essential principles of liberty and 
free government ; and section 26 declares that everything 
contained in the article is excepted from the powers of the 
government to guard against transgressions or misuse of 
the powers delegated by the people through the Constitution 
to the general government. 

In what other state paper is the same principle declared 
as that expressed in section i ? 

In what other state papers are ideas expressed similar 
"to those found in section 2 ? 

How do the statements in the State Constitution con- 

(57) 



58 THE GOVERXMEXT OF PEXXSYLVAXIA. 

cerning religion differ from those in the United States- 
Constitution ? 

" Elections shall be free and equal " does not mean that 
everybody may vote but that any person with the proper 
qualifications has the right to vote without interference and 
that the qualifications for voting shall be tuiiform. 

The greater number of rights mentioned in this declaration 
are such rights as are found in the first ten amendments, sections 
9 and lo of Article I, and other parts of the United States Con- 
stitution. An extended discussion of the rights reserved in this 
declaration would require too much space. Each student should 
be required to compile a brief but S3^stematic statement or digest 
of the rights guaranteed in this article. 

ARTICLE 11. 

The State Legislature. 

The General Assembly. The power to make laws for 
the State is vested in a Legislature of the State called the 
General Assembly. The General Assembly is therefore the 
law-making body of the State. It is a bicameral body and 
consists of a Senate and a House of Representatives. Ar- 
ticles II and III treat of the Legislative Department of the 
State. 

The Members of the General Assembly. Tcnn. The 
term of Representatives is 2 years and of Senators 4 years. 
The terms of both Representatives and Senators begin on 
the first day of December following the election. 

Election. Representatives and Senators are elected by 
the voters of the State on General Election Day, the first 
Tuesday after the first ^Monday in November. On this day 
the voters go to the common voting places and vote by 
ballot for as many of the candidates as the county or district 
is entitled to elect; and the persons receiving the highest 
numbers of votes stand elected. Representatives are elected 



APPORTIONMENT OF REPRESENTATIVES. 59 

in even years and Senators are elected in leap years in the 
odd-numbered districts and in the even years between the 
leap years in the even-numbered districts. 

Classification of Senators. In section 2 it is stated that 
members of the General Assembly shall be chosen every 
second year ; and in section 3 the Senators' term is fixed at 
4 years. This arrangement divides the Senators into two- 
classes, one half to be chosen every second year. At least 
one half of the Senators therefore are experienced members.. 

The first election under the constitution of 1873 took place in 
1876, \vhen Senators from the even-numbered districts were elected 
for two years and from the odd-numbered districts for four years. 

Apportionment and Xiiniber of Representatives. Rep- 
resentatives are apportioned among the counties according" 
to their population. The ratio of apportionment is obtained 
by dividing the poDulation of the State as ascertained by 
the latest United States census by the number 200. This 
ratio of apportionment is then divided into the population 
of each county to determine the number of RepresentatiA'es 
for the county. Each county shall have at least one Rep- 
resentative. 

Each county containing less than five ratios shall have one 
Representative for every full ratio and an additional Representative 
if the surplus is more than half a ratio. If a county contains five 
or more ratios of representation it shall have one Representative 
onl}^ for every full ratio. If a city contains a population equal to 
one or more ratios, it shall elect separately its proportional part 
of the Representatives allotted to the county in which the city is 
situated. 

Priniarily a county is a rcprcscntaiirc district, but cities en- 
titled to more than four Representatives and counties with more 
than 100,000 inhabitants shall be divided into districts of compact 
and contiguous territory and each such district shall elect its pro- 
portionate share of Representatives ; but no district may elect 
more than four Representatives. It is the duty of the General 
Assembly to apportion the State into Representative districts after 
each census. 



^6o THE GOVERNMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

By the representative apportionment act passed by the 
special session of the General Assembly in 1906, the House 
of Representatives consists of 207 members. 

My county has State Representatives. 

Apportionment and Xitmber of Senators. For the ap- 
portionment of Senators the State is divided into 50 sena- 
torial districts and each district shall elect one Senator. 
These districts must be of compact and contiguous ter- 
ritory and the population of each district must be as nearly 
•equal as possible to the senatorial ratio of apportionment 
This ratio of apportionment is obtained by dividing the 
population of the State by 50. 

No county shall form a separate senatorial district unless its 
population is equal to four-fifths of a ratio except when each of 
the adjoining counties is entitled to one or more Senators. In this 
■case a Senator ma}^ be assigned to a county if its population ex- 
ceeds half a ratio. Each count}^ containing one or more ratios 
shall have one Senator for every full ratio and an additional Sen- 
ator if the surplus exceeds three-fifths of a ratio. 

It is the dut}^ of the General x-\ssembly to apportion the State 
into senatorial districts after each census. These districts are 
numbered. The Constitution states that no county shall be divided 
imless it is entitled to two or more Senators, and no ward, borough, 
or township shall be divided in the form.ation of a district; but by 
the senatorial apportionment act of 1906 the General Assembly 
defied the Constitution by attaching a part of one county to another 
county to form a senatorial district. 

The number of Senators from a single city or county may 
never be more than one-sixth of the whole number of Senators in 
the State. 

The Senate of Pennsylvania is composed of 50 Senators. 

Qualifications. Representatives must be at least 21 
years of age and Senators at least 25 years of age. 

Both Senators and Representatives must have been citi- 
zens and inhabitants of the State for four years next pre- 
ceding their election. 



VACANCIES AND SALARY. 6I!: 

Senators and Representatives must have been inhabitants 
of their respective districts for one year next preceding their- 
election and they must reside in their respective districts 
during their terms of service. 

In section 6, section 7, and the last sentence of section 
II, three disquaUiications of members of the General As- 
sembly are mentioned. Removal from the district would 
also disqualify a member for continuing to serve in the- 
General Assembly. 

Vacancies. Whenever a vacancy occurs in either house 
of the General Assembly, the presiding officer of the house- 
issues a writ of election to fill the vacancy for the remainder- 
of the term. The writ or order to hold the special election 
is directed by the Speaker of the House or the President 
of the Senate to the sheriff of the proper county. 

If the vacancy happens during the recess of the General As- 
sembly it is not filled until the next general election unless the 
General Assembly meets before the time for the general election.. 
If the vacancy happens during the session of the General Assembly,., 
or if it happens during the recess and the General Assembly must 
meet either in regular or special session before the time for the- 
next general election, the presiding officer of the house must issue- 
a writ for a special election to be held within thirty days after the 
happening of the vacancy. 

Salary. Senators and Representatives each receive the 
following compensation : 

1 . For a regular session, $1500 ; for a special or extraor- 
dinary session, $500. The President pro tempore of the 
Senate and the Speaker of the House each receive $1 per 
day during every session in addition to the regular salaries. 

2. Mileage to and from every session at the rate of 20 
cents a mile. 

3. For a regular session, $50 for stationery and $100 
for postage. For a special session a reasonable amount is 
allowed for stationery and postage. 



^2 THE GOVERNMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

No member of the General Assembly shall receive any 
•other compensation ; and he shall receive no increase of 
pay or mileage during his term under any law passed during 
the term for which he was elected. 

Peculiar Privileges, jMembers of the General Assembly 
have two special privileges: 

1. While going to, attending, or returning from the 
sessions of the General Assembly they can not be arrested 
for anything except treason, felony, violation of their oath 

•of office, and breach or surety of the peace. 

2. For any speech or debate made in either house they 
shall not be questioned in any other place, — that is, they 
may be called to order in the house but may not be ques- 
tioned before a court or arrested for slander for anything 
they may say in a speech or debate during discussions in 
the house to which they belong. 

Officers of the General Assembly. The Lieutenant Gov- 
ernor is the presiding officer of the Senate and as such is 
called the President of the Senate. He has no vote unless 
there is a tie. At the beginning and the close of each regular 
session the Senators elect one of their number President pro 
tempore of the Senate, who shall take the place of the Lieu- 
tenant Governor at the head of the Senate whenever he is 
.absent or unable to attend to his duties or when his office 
is vacant. 

The presiding officer of the House of Representatives 
is called the Speaker. He is himself a Representative and 
is elected by the Representatives at the opening of the ses- 
sion. He votes on all questions. 

Each house elects a Chief Clerk and a number of other 
-clerks. Other important officers elected by each house are 
the Sergeant-at-arms, the Doorkeeper, the Postmaster, and 
the Chaplain. The officers of the General Assembly are 
•elected by a viva voce vote. 

The duties of these officers are similar to the duties of 



MEETINGS OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 63 

the corresponding officers of the Congress of the United 
States. 

Meetings of the General Assembly. Regular Sessions, 
The General Assembly meets every second year, at 12 
■o'clock noon, on the first Tuesday of January. Its regular 
sessions are therefore biennial sessions and are held in the 
odd years. The sessions continue mitil the business is fin- 
ished and usually last from three to five months. 

A quorum in each house consists of a majority of the 
members. The regular sessions are numbered from the 
first meeting under the constitution of 1776. Session num- 
ber I met on November 28, 1776. The session which met 
•on January 5, 1909 was number CXA^III. 

On the cla}- on which the General Assembly meets, the first 
action taken l^y each house is the organization of the house. 

In the House of Representatives, at 11 o'clock a. m., one of 
the members oldest in service in the House announces from the 
.Speaker's stand that the House of Representatives will meet at 
12 o'clock for organization. At 12 o'clock the Clerk of the last 
House, having ascertained that a quorum is present, calls the House 
to order. The Secretary of the Commonwealth then hands the 
Clerk the returns of the election, these returns are read, and the 
roll is called by the Clerk. The oath is then administered to the 
•members by some judge. The election of a Speaker is next con- 
ducted by the Clerk. After the election of a Speaker, the Chief 
Clerk and then the other officers are elected. The organization is 
-completed on some future day by the appointment of committees. 

In the Senate, at 12 o'clock, the Senate is called to order bv 
the President. The Secretar}- of the Commonv/ealth presents the 
returns of the election, the returns are read, and the roll is called. 
The oath is then administered to the newly elected members. A 
President pro tempore is next elected. After his election other 
■officers of the Senate are elected. Committees are also appointed 
.at some future time. 

Officers and employees of both houses of the General Assembly 
return to the next biennial session to serve until their successors 
are chosen. 

Special Sessions. Special sessions of the General As- 
sembly may be convened by the Governor when he thinks 



64 'THE GOVERXMEXT OF PEXXSYLVAXIA. 

it necessary to do so. The Senate may be called alone in 
extra session, by the Governor, to attend to business which 
it transacts jointly with the Governor. Special sessions are 
not numbered with the regular sessions. 

In a special session no laws shall be passed on any sub- 
jects except those designated by the Governor in his procla- 
mation calling the special session. 

Adjournment. The adjournment of the General Assem- 
bly may depend upon the following conditions : 

1. There may be no further business on hand and the 
two houses then agree upon a day on which they will ad- 
journ. 

2. If the two houses can not agree upon a day of ad- 
journment, the Governor may adjourn them to such time 
as he shall think proper, not exceeding four months. 

3. No session can extend beyond the time for the meet- 
ing of the next regular session. 

4. Neither house shall adjourn for more than three 
days without the consent of the other nor may it adjourn 
to any other place except that in which both houses are in 
session. 

Powers of the General Assembly. Sole Ponders. The 
House of Representatives has two sole powers : 

1. The sole power of impeachment. 

2. The sole power to originate bills for raising revenue. 
The Senate has the sole powxr to try all impeachments. 
Common Pozuers. The houses of the General Assembly 

have the following common powers : 

1. To choose their officers. 

2. To judge of the election and qualifications of their 
members ; that is, to decide whether the members are 
legally elected and properly qualified. 

Contested elections shall be tried and determined by the court 
of common pleas of the county in which the person returned as 
elected resides, on the petition of at least twenty persons of the 



POWERS OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 65 

county, in case of a Representative, and of the senatorial district, 
in case of a Senator ; but the person against whom the decision of 
the court is given may afterwards present a similar petition to the 
proper house of the General Assembly. This petition is referred 
to the committee on elections, which hears the claims of the parties 
to the contest (the contestant and the respondent) and reports to 
the house. The house votes on the report and passes a resolution 
deciding w^hich person is entitled to the seat in the General As- 
sembly. 

3. To determine the rules of their proceedings. 

4. To punish their members or other persons for con- 
tempt or disorderly behavior in their presence. 

5. To expel a member, with the concurrence of two- 
thirds. No member can be expelled a second time for the 
same cause, — since his reelection would show that the peo- 
ple indorse his action. 

6. To enforce obedience to their process. 

7. To protect their members against violence, bribery, 
and corruption. 

8. To have all other powers necessary for the legisla- 
ture of a free State. 

9. Each house shall keep a journal of its proceedings 
and shall publish the same except such parts as recjuire 
secrecy. 

Joint Powers. The principal joint power of the General 
Assembly is the power to make laws. It can make laws on a 
variety of subjects as large or perhaps larger than that on 
which the Congress of the United States can legislate and is 
limited in its legislation only by the provisions and prohibi- 
tions of the Constitution and laws of the United States and 
of the Constitution of the State. 

Among the joint powers or duties of the General As- 
sembly which are exercised by passing laws are the follow- 
ing: 

1. To raise revenue for public expenses. 

2. To make appropriations for various purposes. 
5 



66 THE GOVERNMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

3. To divide the State into representative, senatorial, 
and judicial districts. 

4. To establish courts other than those mentioned in 
the Constitution. 

5. To fix the salaries of members of the General As- 
sembly, prescribe the duties and compensation of State, 
county, township, borough, and city officers, and provide 
additional officers when necessary. 

6. To make regulations concerning corporations, min- 
ing, and various other industries of the State. 

7. To prescribe penalties for the punishment of of- 
fenses. 

8. To make laws concerning real estate and other prop- 
erty and the settlement of estates. 

9. To provide for a system of education. 

10. To make laws regulating business relations and 
transactions. 

11. In general, to make laws necessary for the good 
order, protection, and prosperity of the people of the State. 

The General Assembly has the power to elect a Gov- 
ernor in case of a tie vote. 

Some of the powers of the General Assembly are 
national in scope:' 

I. United States Senators are elected by the General 
Assembly. 

Each house of the General Assembly nominates at least one 
candidate for United States Senator and at least two days previous 
to the election each house must inform the other as to whom it has 
nominated. 

At 3 p. m. on the third Tuesday in January, if the General 
Assembly has organized before the second Tuesday in January, 
and if it has not organized before this day, then on the second 
Tuesday after its organization, in those years in which a United 
States Senator's term expires, the two houses meet in separate 
session and proceed to elect a United States Senator according to 
the method prescribed by act of Congress. 



THE LAW OF THE STATE. 67 

2. A vacancy in the office of United States Senator is 
filled by the General Assembly. 

Jf the vacancy occurs during the session of the General x\s- 
sembly, it proceeds to elect a Senator, in the regular manner, on 
the second Tuesday after receiving official notification of the 
vacancy. 

If the vacancy exists when the General Assembly meets, an 
election is held to till the vacancy on the second Tuesday after 
the organization. 

If a vacancy exists in a recess of the General Assembly, the 
State Constitution provides that the Governor shall call an extra 
session within sixt}' days to fill the vacancy. 

3. The General Assembly divides the State into Con- 
g"ressional Districts for the election of United States Rep- 
resentatives. 

4. The General Assembly prescribes the method for 
choosing presidential electors. 

A Joint Power of the Senate and the Governor. The 
Senate must confirm nominations made by the Governor 
for various offices before the officers can be appointed. 

Ponders of a Minority. While in nearly all cases a 
majority is required for the transaction of business in the 
General Assembly, the minority also has a few powers : 

1. It may adjourn from day to day. 

2. It may compel the attendance of absent members. 

3. At the desire of any two members, the yeas and nays 
must be entered on the journal. 

Other References in the Constitution. Art. Ill, sec. 10, 

14, 16, 25; Art. l\\ sec. 2, 12; Art. V, sec. i; Art. VI, 
sec. I, 2; Art. X, sec. i ; Art. XR^, sec. i, 5, 6. 

ARTICLE III. 

LEGISLATION. 

The Law of the State. The law of the State consists 
of two great classes : 



68 THE GOVERNMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

1. The Constitution, laws, and treaties of the United 
States. 

2. The Constitution and laws of the State. 

Since the State laws usually pertain to matters different 
from those on which Congress legislates, United States and 
State laws do not often conflict. When they do conflict, 
the United States law must be followed; and the final 
decision as to conflict is vested in the United States Su- 
preme Court. 

Committees. The committees of the House of Repre- 
sentatives are appointed by the Speaker and those of the 
Senate by the President pro tempore. 

The standing committees of the House of Representa- 
tives, by the present rules of the House, number thirty-nine. 
They consist of twenty-five members, except the com- 
mittee on appropriations, w^hich has thirty members. In 
the Senate there are thirty-two standing committees, con- 
sisting of from seven to twenty-one members. 

The following are the names of some of the standing com- 
mittees appointed in each house : Committee on Agriculture, on 
Appropriations, on Education, on Elections, on Insurance, on Law 
and Order, on Legislative Apportionment, on Military Affairs, on 
Mines and Mining, on Public Health and Sanitation, on Railroads. 
The Committee of Ways and Means, which deals with questions 
concerning the raising of revenue, is distinctively a committee of 
the House of Representatives. 

Special or select committees may be appointed when 
necessary. 

A committee of the zvhole consists of tlie whole house. 
When the house resolves itself into a committee of the 
whole house, the presiding officer appoints a chairman of 
the committee. 

A conference committee is a committee consisting of 
members of each house and its duty usually is to attempt 
to reach an agreement on points in a bill on which the two 
houses can not agree. 



HOW LAWS ARE MADE. 69 

How Laws are Made. Introducing a Bill. i. No 
law shall be passed unless it was first introduced as a bill. 

A bill may be introduced by any member of the General 
Assembly. 

In the House of Representatives the Speaker calls the names 
of the members by counties alphabetically and a member desiring 
to introduce a bih rises when his name is called and reads the title 
of his bill. In the Senate the President, commencing on his left, 
recognizes Senators wishing to introduce bills, passing from left 
to right. 

2. All bills must be referred by the presiding officer to 
the appropriate committee. 

The committee considers the features and merits of each 
bill and may amend a bill to any extent or may combine 
two or more bills on the same subject. After it has fin- 
ished consideration of a bill it may report the bill favorably 
to the house or it may report it negatively. A committee 
can not change the title of a bill. 

Two beneficial features of the committee system may 
be mentioned : 

So many bills are introduced that it would be practically 
impossible for the General Assembly to give proper con- 
sideration to every one of them and many of them are of 
such a nature that valuable time would be lost in discussing 
them. The committee relieves its house of this work and 
eliminates worthless bills. 

The committee thoroughly studies each bill, recommends 
amendments to those that can be improved, strikes out ob- 
jectionable features, and reports it to the house in proper 
form for immediate action. 

3. Xo bill, except a general appropriation bill, may 
contain more than one subject; and this subject must be 
clearly expressed in the title of the bill. 

4. All bills for raising revenue must originate in the 



70 



THE GOVERNMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA. 



House of Representatives. Other bills may originate in 
either house. 

Action on a BUI. The process of passing a bill in the 
General Assembly is practically the same as the method 
used in Congress. The following is a brief outline : 

1. No bill is considered unless referred to a committee, 
returned from the committee, and printed for the use of the 
members. When a bill is reported by a committee it is 
placed on the calendar of bills on first reading. No bill 
reported negatively can be placed on the calendar unless 
by the vote of a majority of the whole house. 

2. Each bill must be read at length on three different 
days. After each reading a vote is taken to agree to the 
bill, that is, to accept it for consideration by the house in 
the form in which it was read. 

The bill is read the second time in the committee of the whole 
unless, by unanimous consent, the house dispenses with this com- 
mittee. On the second reading the bill is read section by section 
and as each section is read it is subject to debate and amendment, 
after which a vote is taken to agree to the section. If after any 
reading the bill is not agreed to, it is recommitted to a committee 
for its further consideration. 

3. The bill is debated by the house after the second 
reading. 

4. After the third reading a vote is taken upon its final 
passage. This vote must be taken by yeas and nays and 
the names of the persons voting for and against the bill 
must be entered on the journal. To pass a bill, a majority 
of all the members elected to the house must vote for it. 
No member may vote who has a private interest in the 
bill. 

5. After the bill is passed by the house, it must be 
signed by the presiding officer in the presence of the house. 

6. The Clerk then takes the bill to the other house for 
its concurrence, where action is taken upon the bill in 
practically the same way as in the first house. 



HOW LAWS ARE MADE. 



71 



Xo new bill shall be transmitted from one house to the 
other within four days of final adjournment. 

7. When the bill is signed by the presiding officer of 
the second house it is sent to the Governor for his approval. 
No bill shall be passed on the day of final adjournment. 

8. If the Governor signs the bill it is a law. If he 
vetoes the bill, and both houses of the General Assembly 
pass it by a vote of two-thirds of all the members over his 
veto, it becomes a law^ without his signature. 

The Governor may disapprove of any item or items of 
an appropriation bill. This gives him the powder to reject 
an objectionable appropriation without rejecting the entire 
bill. By a decision of the Supreme Court, he may also 
reduce the amount of any item of appropriation. 

9. Amendments may be made by either house to any 
bill. 

While a bill is passing through the General Assembly 
it shall not be so altered or amended as to change its 
original purpose. When one house makes an amendment, 
the other house must vote on it in the same manner as it 
votes on a bill. 

Hozi) a Bill may hacomc a Lau\ i. By being passed 
by both houses of the General Assembly and signed by the 
Governor. 

2. By being passed by both houses of the General As- 
sembly, vetoed by the Governor, and passed over his veto. 

3. By being passed by both houses of the General As- 
sembly and kept by the Governor longer than ten days, 
provided the General Assembly has not adjourned in this 
time. 

4. If the bill is kept by the Governor until after the 
adjournment of the General Assembly, provided it adjourns 
within ten days after the Governor has received the bill, it 
shall be a law unless the Governor files the bill with his 
objections in the office of the Secretary of the Common- 



72 THE G0VERX:\IEXT OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

wealth and makes public proclamation of this fact within 
thirty days after the adjournment of the General Assembly. 
Hozij a BUI may not become a Lazv. i. By not being 
reported favorably by the committee. 

2. By failing to pass in either house. 

3. By being passed by both houses of the General As- 
sembly, vetoed by the Governor, and not passed over his 
veto. 

4. By the filing of objections to the bill, that is, veto- 
ing it, within thirty days after the adjournment of the 
General Assembly. 

Prohibitions on Legislation. In the following sections 
of the Constitution various laws are mentioned or implied 
which the General Assembly is forbidden to pass : Art. I, 
sec. 3, 4, 7, 14, 17, 18, 24, 25; Art. II, sec. 16; Art. Ill, 
sec. I, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, II, 13, 15, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22, 24, 25, 27; 
Art. V, sec. 26 ; Art. IX, sec. 2, 4, 7, 9 ; Art. XVI, sec. 2, 3, 8, 
10; Art. XVIII. 

In Article III, section 7, the General Assembly is forbidden 
to pass local or special laws on a large number of subjects. A 
local or special law is a law whose provisions apply only to one 
community, corporation, or individual instead of the entire State 
or all its citizens. This is a very important section. It obviates 
the confusion which would be caused by many special laws, pre- 
vents the injustice which would be a result of laws granting special 
privileges to favored individuals, and acts as a check upon legis- 
lative corruption and arbitrary legislation. 

Local or special laws which are not forbidden may be passed 
only after notice of the intention to apply for such legislation has 
been published within three months and at least thirty days before 
the introduction of the bill, once a week for four consecutive 
weeks, in two newspapers, if there are so many, published in the 
count}', city, or borough in w^hich the locality affected by such 
special law i? situated : and the affidavit of the publisher that the 
notice was published must be attached to each special or local bill. 

Appropriations. X^o money can be paid out of the State 
treasury unless the General Assembly first passes a law 



THE EXECUTIVE DErARTMENT. 



73 



appropriating the necessary sum of money for the purpose 
for which it is to be paid. 

The general appropriation bill includes the ordinary 
expenses of the executive, legislative, and judicial depart- 
ments, interest on the public debt, and appropriations for 
the public schools. All other appropriations must be made 
* by separate bills. 

Restrictions upon appropriations are mentioned in sec- 
tions ID, II, 17, 18, and 19. 

Questions Requiring Reference to the State Constitution, i. Are 

the sessions of the General Assembly public or secret? Art. II, 
sec. 13. 

2. How are resolutions passed in the General Assembly? Art. 
Ill, sec. 26. 

3. How may a law be revived or amended? x\rt. Ill, sec. 6. 

4. What references to religion are made in the Constitution? 
Preamble ; Art. I, sec. 3, 4. 

5. What does the Constitution state concerning bribery? Art. 
Ill, sec. 29, 30, 31, 32. 

6. How may the capital be removed to another place? Art. 
Ill, sec. 28. 

7. Who pays for the stationery used in the government offices ? 
Art. Ill, sec. 12. 

8. What action requires a two-thirds vote in the General As- 
sembly? Art. II, sec. 11 ; Art. Ill, sec. 17, 26; Art. IV, sec, 8, 15, 16; 
Art. V, sec. 15; Art. VI, sec. 2, 4. 

Other References in the Constitution. Art. IV, sec. 
15, 16. ' 

ARTICLE IV. 

The Executive Department. 

Executive Officers of the State. The Governor is the 
head of the Executive Department and is the chief execu- 
tive officer of the State. The first section of Article IV 
gives a list of officers of the Executive Department; but 
other executive offices have since been established by law. 



74 'THE GOVERNMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

Besides the principal executive officers there is a large num- 
ber of deputies, assistants, clerks, messengers, and other 
subordinate officers, all of whom are engaged in enforcing 
or carrying out the provisions of the law. In addition to 
the State officers, the various executive officers of county, 
township, city, and borough also assist in enforcing the 
laws of the State. While the number of executive officers 
is large, some laws still are poorly enforced on account of 
an inadequate number of officials to see to their proper 
execution. 

The Governor. Election. The Governor is elected by 
the voters of the State, on the first Tuesday after the first 
Monday in November, in the even year between leap years. 
The returns of the election are sealed and transmitted to 
the Secretary of the Commonwealth, directed to the Presi- 
dent of the Senate. These returns must be delivered by 
the Secretary of the Commonwealth to the President of 
the Senate within five days after the meeting of the General 
Assembly. The two houses then meet in joint session, 
usually at 12 m. on the Thursday preceding the inaugura- 
tion, the President of the Senate opens the returns in the 
presence of both houses, the clerk of the Senate reads 
them, the votes are computed by tellers, and the result is 
announced by the President of the Senate The candidate 
who has the highest number of votes stands elected. The 
certificate of election is signed by the presiding officer of 
each house. 

If two or more candidates should ever happen to receive 
an equal number of votes, and no other candidate has a 
higher vote, the General Assembly immediately proceeds, 
in joint meeting, to elect a Governor from the candidates 
having a tie vote. 

The Governor of Pennsylvania is 

A contested election is investigated by a joint com- 
mittee consisting of twelve Senators and twenty-five Rep- 



THE GOVERNOR. 7- 

resentatives, chosen by lot. The Chief Justice presides 
over the meetings of the committee but has no vote. Th:^ 
committee decides which candidate is entitled to the office 
of Governor. 

If the committee finds that the election was invalid and that 
therefore no person is entitled to the offxe of Governor, the Presi- 
dent of the Senate and the Speaker of the House shall immediately 
issue a joint writ to the sheriffs of the counties ordering a special 
election for Governor to be held at the next general election. 

Term. The Governor is elected for a term of four 
years. He is inaugurated on the third Tuesday in January 
in the year following his election. The inauguration takes 
place in front of the State capitol and its principal features 
are the administering of the oath of office to the Governor, 
usually by a justice of the Supreme Court, the inaugural 
address, and military and civic parades and demonstrations. 
He exercises the duties of his office until his successor has 
qualified. 

The number of terms to which a Governor may be 
elected is not limited, but he can not hold tw^o successive 
terms. Robert E. Pattison, for example, was elected 
Governor in 1882 and again in 1890. The argument 
against two successive terms is based on the theory that no 
person vested with extensive powers like those of the 
Governor should be allow^ed to exercise these powers for 
too long a time. 

The hrst Governor under the Constitution of 1873 ^^'^-S elected 
in 1875 for a term of three years. Succeeding Governors were 
elected for four years. By this arrangement the Governor's term 
begins in the year in which the General Assembly meets and is coex- 
tensive with one senatorial and two representative terms. 

Qualiiicafions. The Governor must be a citizen of the 
United States, he must be at least thirty years of age, and 
must have been an inhabitant of the State for seven vears 



76 THE GOVERNMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

next preceding his election. Section 6 gives a disqualifica- 
tion. 

Vacancy. In case of a vacancy in the office of Gov- 
ernor, the Lieutenant Governor becomes Governor; and if 
a vacancy again occurs during the same term, the President 
pro tempore of the Senate succeeds to the governorship. 
The seat of the President pro tempore in the Senate is 
then vacant and must be filled as any other vacancy in the 
Senate is filled. 

Salary. The Governor receives an annual salary of 
$io,O30. He has the free use of the Executive Mansion. 
The State also pays the salaries of a private secretary, 
several clerks, and a few other officials connected with the 
executive office. 

Pozvcrs and Duties of the Governor, i. He shall take 
care that the laws are faithfully executed. 

2. He shall be commander in chief of the military and 
naval forces of the State except wdien they are in the actual 
service of the United States and may call out the militia 
Avhen necessary. 

3. He nominates and, by and with the advice of two- 
thirds of all the Senators, appoints certain officers. The 
Governor nominates a person for office by sending his name 
to the Senate and the Senate confirms or rejects the nom- 
ination. If the Senate confirms the nomination the Gov- 
ernor appoints the person to the office. If the Senate 
rejects it, the Governor nominates another person. 

4. He has the power to fill vacancies in various offices. 

5. He has the power to remit fines and forfeitures, to 
grant reprieves, and, on the recommendation of the board 
of pardons, to grant commutations of sentences and pardons 
except in cases of impeachment. 

6. He may require information, in writing, from the 
officers of the executive department, on any subject con- 
nected wath their offices. 



THE LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR. 



77 



7. He shall give to the General Assembly information 
of the state of the Commonwealth and shall recommend to 
it such measures as he shall judge expedient. This he 
does in his biennial message to the General Assembly. 

8. He may call special sessions of the General Assem- 
bly and may convene the Senate in extraordinary session 
for the transaction of executive business. 

9. He may adjourn the General Assembly in case of 
disagreement between the two houses as to the time of 
adjournment. 

10. He shall sign or veto bills ; also all orders, resolu- 
tions, and votes, on which the concurrent vote of botli 
houses is necessary, except a resolution to adjourn. 

11. He shall sign the commissions of officers receiv- 
ing their commissions from the State. 

12. He publishes, by proclamation, in one or more 
newspapers, the names of persons elected as United States 
Representatives and as Presidential Electors. 

13. He approves charters of corporations for profit 
and signs patents for land issued by the State. 

14. He is ex-officio a member of a number of State 
boards and commissions. 

The powers of appointing officers and issuing pardons 
are conditional, one depending upon confirmation by the 
Senate, the other upon recommendation by the board of 
pardons. 

The Lieutenant Governor. The Lieutenant Governor is 
elected in the same manner, serves for the same term, and 
must have the same qualifications, as the Governor. 

A vacancy in the office of Lieutenant Governor is never 
filled, but his place as President of the Senate is taken by 
the President pro tempore. His salary is $5,000 a year.' 

He is President of the Senate but has no vote unless 
the vote of the Senate is equally divided. If the Governor 
is unable, by reason of some disability, to perform the duties 
of his office, the Lieutenant Governor acts as Governor. 



78 THE GOVERNMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

The Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania is . . . 



The Department of State. The Secretary of the Com- 
monwealth is the head of the Department of State. He 
is appointed by the Governor, with the advice and consent 
of two-thirds of the Senate, during the Governor's pleas- 
ure. His term is therefore nominally four years. His 
salary is $8,000 a year. 

The Secretary of the Commonwealth is the custodian of 
the law^s and resolutions passed by the General Assembly. 
He keeps a record of all the official acts of the Governor. 
He conducts the official correspondence between this State 
or with the United States. He is the keeper of the seal of 
the State, affixes the seal to documents requiring it, and 
•countersigns all such papers. Charters of corporations for 
profit, requisition warrants, and other papers are scrutin- 
ized by him before the Governor affixes his signature ; and 
the official bonds of officers commissioned by the Governor 
are kept in his office. The election returns for national, 
state, and county officers who receive executive commis- 
sions are in his custody. 

The Attorney General's Department. The Attorney 

General is appointed by the Governor, with the advice and 
consent of two-thirds of the Senate, at pleasure. His term 
is nominally four years. He receives $12,000 a year. 

The Attorney General is the legal adviser of the Gov- 
ernor and of the heads of departments and other State of- 
ficials. He is the attorney for the State in lawsuits to 
which the State is a party and acts in behalf of the State 
in other legal transactions. 

The Treasury Department. The State Treasurer is the 
head of the Treasury Department. He is elected by the 
voters of the State at the general election, for a term of 
two years. His term begins on the first J\Ionday in May. 



THE AUDITOR GENERAL. 79 

His salary is $8000 per annum. He is under bond to the 
amount of $500,000. 

The State Treasurer has charge of the pubHc money 
of the State, which he keeps on deposit in various banks 
and trust companies, and has general supervision of the 
State's finances. It is his duty to receive and receipt for all 
money paid into the State treasury and to apportion the 
money received between the sinking fund and the general 
revenue fund. He pays all warrants drawn on the State 
treasury by proper officers in consequence of appropriations 
made by the General Assembly. 

He furnishes a monthly financial statement* to the Auditor 
General, a qnarterh' statement to the Commissioners of the vSink- 
ing Fund, an annual report to the General Assembly of the receipts 
and expenditures of the fiscal year ending on November 30, and a 
financial report to the General Assembly at the opening of each 
biennial session. 

The Auditor General's Department. The Auditor Gen- 
eral is elected by the voters of the State, at the general elec- 
tion, for a term of three years. His term begins on the first 
Tuesday in Alay. He receives an annual salary of $4000. 
Like the Treasurer, he can not hold two successive terms. 

It is the duty of the Auditor General to examine, adjust, 
and settle all accounts between the Commonwealth and any 
department, officer, person, association, or corporation. He 
makes an annual examination of the condition of the State 
treasury and issues a report on the finances of the State at 
the close of each fiscal year. 

In the settlement of accomits of the General Assembly and 
the departments of the government he has the power to disallow 
any excess over what he finds to be a reasonable cash price. He 
has full power in the adjustment of accounts to compel the attend- 
ance of witnesses and other persons and the production of books 
and papers relating to the account; and he can imprison persons 
for refusing to testify. 



8o THE GOVERNMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

The Department of Internal Affairs. The Secretary of 
Internal Affairs is the head of this department. He is 
elected by the voters of the State, at the general election, 
for a term of four years. His term begins on the first Tues- 
day in May. His salary is $4000 a year. 

The department consists of four bureaus, and the Sec- 
retary of Internal Affairs has the direction and general su- 
pervision of the work of these bureaus. 

The Land Office Bureau. This bureau contains the records of 
the first titles to the lands within the State acquired by the pro- 
prietaries and the Commonwealth; the records of grants and con- 
veyances of public lands ; the records of the organization of the 
counties of the State; and the papers relating to the surveys and 
boundary lines of the State. There are no large tracts of vacant land 
in the State, but occasionally small tracts are still found which are 
open for sale through the land office bureau. 

The Bureau of Industrial Statistics. It is the duty of this 
bureau to collect and publish labor statistics ; to investigate the 
relations existing between capital and labor ; to secure information 
concerning the industrial, social, and educational condition of 
persons engaged in manual labor ; and to recommend methods 
for improving the conditions of the laboring classes. 

The Bureau of Assessments and Taxes. This bureau compiles 
and tabulates information concerning the assessed values of prop- 
erty and the taxes and rates of taxation throughout the State. 

The Bureau of Railways. This bureau gathers statistics con- 
cerning railroads, canals, and telegraph and telephone lines operated 
in the State and is charged with the enforcement of the law with 
reference to corporations of this class. 

The Department of Public Instruction. See Article X. 

The Adjutant General's Department. The Adjutant 
General is appointed by the Governor, with the advice and 
consent of two-thirds of the Senate, at pleasure. His term 
is nominally four years. He receives an annual salary of 
$4000. 

The Adjutant General is chief of the Governor's Staff. 
He issues all orders to the National Guard by the authority 



THE SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE. 8 1 

of the Governor and is charged with the execution of these 
orders. He inspects the National Guard at the annual en- 
campments and has charge of the State arsenal. 

The Governor's Staff is a body of military officers who 
act as his assistants and attend him on formal occasions as 
a guard of honor. 

The Department of Agriculture. The Secretary of Ag- 
' riculture is appointed by the Governor with the advice and 
consent of the Senate, for a term of four years. His salary 
is S3500. 

The duty of the Secretary of Agriculture is to collect 
and publish statistics concerning agricultural industries, to 
investigate as to Vvdiat grains, fruits, grasses, and other crops 
are adaptable to the soil and climate of the State, to inves- 
tigate plant diseases, and in general to promote the develop- 
ment of agricultural and allied industries. He makes an 
annual report to the GoAxrnor and may issue special bulle- 
tins on subjects relating to agriculture. 

There are several important divisions in this department : 
The Deputy Secretary and Director of Farmers' Institutes en- 
gages speakers and fixes the times and places for holding farmers' 
institutes in various parts of the State. 

The Dairy and Food Commissioner makes investigations of 
food products and carries out the provisions of the pure food laws. 

The Bconomic Zoologist collects information relative to insect 
pests and diseases affecting trees and plants, gives instruction for 
their prevention or extermination, and investigates the economic 
value of the birds and animals in general found in the State. He 
publishes the results of his investigations in monthly bulletins. 
The Nursery Inspector belongs to this division. 

The State Veterinarian investigates diseases of domestic ani- 
mals and carries out the provisions of the laws relating to such 
matters. 

The State Board of Agriculture is also connected with this 
department. An idea of the scope of its work may be obtained by 
noting that among the officials of the board are a botanist, a pomolo- 
gist, a chemist, a veterinary surgeon, a sanitarian, microscopists and 

6 



82 THE GOVERNMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

hygienists, entomologists, an ornithologist, meteorologists, a min- 
eralogist, an apiarist, and geologists. 

Other Departments. The heads of these departments 
are appointed by the Governor and the Senate,, the Insur- 
ance Commissioner for a term of three years, the others 
for terms of four years. 

The Insurance Department. The Insurance Commis- 
sioner is charged with the execution of the insurance laws 
and in his annual report to the General Assembly he gives 
a list of the insurance companies doing business in the State 
and a summary of the financial condition of each company. 

The Banking Department. It is the duty of the Com- 
misioner of Banking to see that the laws relating to banks, 
trust companies, building and loan associations, and all 
similar companies are faithfully enforced. He appoints a 
number of examiners to investigate the financial condition 
of banks and other institutions. 

The Department of Forestry. The State Forestry Res- 
ervation Commission, which is charged with the purchase 
and management of suitable lands for timber culture and 
the protection of the water sources of the State, is connected 
wdth this department. 

It is the duty of the Commissioner of Forestry to en- 
force the rules of the Forestry Commission, to encourage 
and promote the development of forestry, and to publish 
information concerning the forest lands of the State. On 
the j\Iont Alto reservation, a School of Forestry and a sana- 
torium for poor consumptives have been established. 

The Department of Factory Inspection, It is the duty 
of the Chief Factory Inspector to enforce the laws concern- 
ing the employment of labor and to see that all industrial 
establishments and public buildings of all classes are pro- 
vided wdth the proper appliances for the safety and health 
of the employees and inmates. No child under fourteen 
years of age shall be employed in any establishment. The 



THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH. 83 

Chief Factory Inspector appoints a number of deputy fac- 
tory inspectors, five of whom shall be women. 

The Department of Mines. It is the duty of the Chief 
of this Department to execute the mining law^s of the State. 
He is. authorized to inspect and examine any mine or col- 
liery in the State. He gives aid and instruction to mine in- 
spectors and makes in\^estigations so as to enable him to re- 
port on the systems and methods of mining in the State. 

The Department of Health. It is the duty of the Com- 
missioner of Health to protect the health of the people 
by enforcing laws relating to sanitary matters, employing 
means for the prevention and suppression of diseases, mak- 
ing sanitary investigations, abating and removing nuisances 
detrimental to the public health, enforcing quarantine regu- 
lations, and preserving the purity of the waters of the 
State. With the assistance of an advisory board, orders 
and regulations are drawn up for the prevention of disease 
and the protection of life and health. 

The department contains a Bureau of Vital Statistics for the 
registration of births, marriages, deaths, and diseases. The bureau 
is in charge of a State Registrar and local registrars are appointed 
by the Commissioner of Health in each township, borough, and 
city in the State. Burial permits also are issued by the local regis- 
trars of vital statistics. 

TJie State Highzcay Department. The State Highway 
Commissioner must be a competent civil engineer, experi- 
enced in the construction and maintenance of good roads. 
He is charged with carrying into effect the provisions of 
the laws concerning the cooperation of the State with the 
counties, townships, and boroughs in the construction and 
maintenance of improved roads, and shall encourage a 
general system of highway improvement. 

The Dctarimcnt cf Public Printing and Binding. The Superin- 
tendent of Public Printing and Binding supervises the printing and 



84 THE GOVERNMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

binding of the reports made b}" the heads of departments, of matter 
ordered to be printed b}^ the General Assembly, and of other public 
documents. 

The Deparfnioit of fisJicries. The Commissioner of Fisheries 
encourages and promotes the development of the fishery interests 
of the State and is the chief superintendent of the hatching stations. 

The Fisheries Commission, of which he is the head, is authorized 
to employ persons for the protection of fish and for the apprehen- 
sion of persons violating the fish laws. All fish-wardens, constables,, 
and other guardians of the peace are required to make prompt re- 
port to the Commissioner of violations of the fish-laws. 

The Department of State Poliee. The Superintendent 
of the State Police appoints the State Police Force, provides 
arms, equipments, and headquarters for the State Police, and 
makes regulations, subject to the approval of the Governor^ 
for their control. 

The State Police shah assist in preserving law and 
order throughout tlie State and shall cooperate with the 
local authorities in detecting and apprehending criminals. 

Boards and Commissions. The Board of Pardons con- 
sists of the Lieutenant Governor, the Secretary of the 
Commonwealth, the Attorney General, and the Secretary 
of Internal Aitairs. No pardon shall be issued by the Gov~ 
ernor except upon the recommendation in writing of the 
entire board or any three of its members. The board meets 
in open session to consider applications for pardons on the 
third Wednesday of each month, in the Supreme Court 
room, at Harrisburg. Each member receives $500. 

The Board of Public Grounds and Buildings has control and 
supervision of the public grounds and buildings of the State. 

The Board of Game Commissioners enforces the laws relating 
to the protection and preservation of the game, song, and insec- 
tivorous birds ^nd the mammals of the State. For this purpose 
they appoint Game Protectors in various sections of the State. 

The State Live StocTz Sanitary Board protects the health of 
the domestic animals of the State by employing means for the 



THE STATE LIBRARY. 



85 



prevention, suppression, or eradication of dangerous, contagious, or 
infectious diseases among domestic animals. 

The State Board of Undertakers, the State Board of Veterin- 
ary Medical Examiners, the Board for the Examination of Ac- 
I'ountants, the Phavniaceutical Examining Beard, a State Board 
of Jfedical Examines s, and a State Board of Dental Examiners 
examine, license, and register persons desiring to practice in the vo- 
cation indicated by the title of the board. 

The Anatomical Board of the State of Pennsylvania supervises 
the distribution of dead human bodies among the medical and dental 
colleges of the State for the promotion of medical science. 

The College and University Council approves or disapproves of 
applications for charters for colleges, universities, or seminaries de- 
siring the power to confer degrees and visits institutions holding 
such charters to see v/hether they keep up to the required standard. 
It makes a biennial report to the General Assembly on higher edu- 
cation within the State. 

The Sinking Fund Commission receives the revenues belonging 
to the sinking fund and applies them according to law. 

The JJ'ater Sut'ply Commission obtains data concerning the 
water supply of the State and adopts means for conserving, devel- 
oping, purifying, and equitably distributing the waters of the State. 

The Commission of Soldiers' Orphan Schools provides schools 
for the orphans of soldiers and sailors and supervises the man- 
agement of these institutions. 

The Pennsylvania State Railroad Commission hears complaints 
concerning freight and passenger rates, the distribution of cars, the 
location of stations, and similar matters ; investigates the causes of 
accidents on railroads ; makes recommendations as to crossings, 
safety appliances, and the protection of the public in general; and 
sees that the laws and regulations concerning railroads are obeyed. 

The State Library. The State Librarian is appointed 
by the Governor and the Senate for a term of four years. 
He has charge of the State Library and receives all moneys 
appropriated for library purposes and disburses them under 
the direction of the board of trustees. The Library con- 
tains about 123,000 volumes. 

The board of trustees was authorized, by the act of 
}Jarch 28, 1905, to use the Executive Building, as soon as 



86 THE GOVERNMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

the officials occupying it removed to the new Capitol, for 
the estabhshment of a museum of objects illustrating the 
flora and fauna of the State and its mineralogy, geology, 
archaeology, arts, and history. 

State Institutions. Among the institutions supervised and sup- 
ported by the State are two penitentiaries, a number of lunatic 
asylums and hospitals for the insane and feeble-minded, a soldiers' 
and sailors' home, a number of hospitals for The sick and injured 
in the mining regions, several cottage State hospitals, and several 
educational institutions noted under Article X. 

Vacancies in Executive Offices. The methods of filling 
vacancies in the offices of Governor and Lieutenant Gover- 
nor have already been explained. 

Vacancies in other executive offices may happen under 
two conditions : 

1. When the Senate is in session. 

2. When the Senate is not in session. 

The offices in which these vacancies may happen are of 
two classes: i. Appointive offices. 2. Elective offices. 

Appointive Offices. If a vacancy happens during the 
session of the Senate a person is appointed by the Governor 
with the advice and consent of the Senate to fill the vacancy. 

If a vacancy happens during a recess of the Senate, the 
Governor appoints a person to the vacancy and gives him a 
commission which shall expire at the end of the next ses- 
sion of the Senate. During this session a person is ap- 
pointed to the vacancy in the regular manner. 

Elective Offices. The Governor also has power to fill 
vacancies which may happen in the office of Auditor Gen- 
eral, State Treasurer, Secretary of Internal Afifairs, in a 
judicial office, or in any other elective office which he is or 
may be authorized to fill. 

If the vacancy happens during the session of the Senate, 
the Governor appoints a person to the vacancy with the 
consent of the Senate. 



THE JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT. 87 

If the vacancy happens during the recess of the Senate, 
the Governor appoints a person to fill the vacancy. 

But in any case of a vacancy in an elective office a per- 
son shall be elected to the office at the next general election 
if the vacancy happens three months or more before the 
general election ; but if the vacancy happens within three 
calendar months preceding the next election, then a person 
shall be elected to* the office at the second general election 
succeeding the happening of the vacancy. 

Questions and Exercises, i. What were the oftices of Secretary 
of Internal Affairs and Superintendent of Public Instruction called 
before the Ccnstituticn of 1873? Art IV, sec. 19, 20. 

2. May a person be elected Governor who has not actually re- 
sided in the State during the seven years preceding his election? 
Art. IV, sec. 5. 

3. How is the business of an executive session of the Senate 
transacted? Art. IV, sec. 8. 

4. Give reasons why some officers are elected and others ap- 
pointed. 

5. Arrange a table of the principal executive officers showing 
(i) how the office is obtained, (2) term, stating length and whether 
fixed or nominal, (3) salary, and (4) principal duty. 

6. ^lake a list of United States officers corresponding to State 
officers. 

7. How should the Governor be addressed when writing or 
speaking to him ? 

Other References in the Constitution. Art. Ill, sec. 26, 
Art. XVII, sec. 11. 

ARTICLE V. 

The Judicial Department. 

The Judicial System of the State. The judicial power 
of the State is vested in the following system of courts : 
The Supreme Court. 
The Superior Court. 



88 THE GOYERXMEXT OF PEXXSYLVANIA. 

The District Courts (Comity Courts). 
Courts of Common Pleas. 
Courts of Oyer and Terminer. 
Courts of Quarter Sessions. 
Orphans' Courts. 

^Magistrates' Courts. 

~^\Iagistrates' Courts. 
Aldermens' Courts. 
PoHce Courts. 
Justices' Courts. 
Of these courts the district courts are discussed under 
county government, the first three classes of magistrates' 
courts under city government, and the justices' courts un- 
der township government. 

The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania is the head of the 
judicial department of the State. 

How is a judge addressed in court? 

The Supreme Court. Place of Meeting. The Supreme 
Court holds annual sessions in each of the three Supreme 
Court districts of the State. In the eastern district it sits 
at Philadelphia, in the middle district, at Harrisburg, in 
the western district, at Pittsburg. The court has a pro- 
thonotary for each district. 

Judges. The Supreme Court has seven judges, a chief 
justice and six associate justices. The judge whose com- 
mission expires first is Chief Justice. If two or more judges 
happen to be elected at the same time, priority of commis- 
sion is determined by lot. 

Judges of the Supreme Court are elected by the voters 
of the State for a term of twenty-one years. The term be- 
gins on the first jMonday in January. They are not eligible 
for a second term. If two judges are to be elected, a voter 
may vote for only one ; if three are to be elected, he may 
not vote for more than two of the candidates. 



THE SUPREME COURT. 89 

A vacancy in the office of Chief Justice is filled by suc- 
cession, the Associate Justice oldest in commission becoming 
Chief Justice. A vacancy among the Associate Justices is 
filled by the method of filling vacancies in an elective office 
explained under executive offices. 

The only qualifications required for judges of the Su- 
preme Court are that they must be learned in the law and 
must be qualified voters of the State. They shall reside in 
the State during their continuance in office. 

The salary of the Chief Justice is $10,500, of the As- 
sociate Justices $10,000. 

It is the duty of the judges to assist in holding sessions 
of the Supreme Court and, by virtue of their office, they 
are also justices of oyer and terminer in the several coun- 
ties. The Chief Justice presides over the sessions of the 
court. 

Jurisdiction. The jurisdiction of the Supreme Court extends 
over the State. 

The Supreme Court has original jurisdiction in — 

1. Cases of injunction where a corporation is a party defendant. 

2. Cases of habeas corpus. 

3. Cases of mandamus to courts of inferior jurisdiction. 

4. Cases of cjuo warranto as to all officers of the Common- 

wealth whose jurisdiction extends over the State, 
The Supreme Court has appellate jurisdiction — 

1. By appeal. 

2. By certiorari. 

3. By writ of error. 

An injunction is an order issued by a court requiring a person 
or part}' to do or, usually, to refrain from doing a certain thing. 

A writ of habeas corpus is a writ issued by a court ordering a 
prisoner to be brought before a court to determine whether he is 
legally or illegally imprisoned. 

A writ of mandamus is an order issued by a court of superior 
jurisdiction and directed to some inferior court, corporation, or 
official, commanding a certain specified thing to be done as a part 
of the duty of the party against whom the writ is directed. 



90 THE GOVERNMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

A writ of qtio zvarranto is a writ issued by a court commanding" 
an officer to show b}^ what authority he holds a certain office or 
performs a certain act. 

A wTit of certiorari is a writ issued by a superior court to an 
inferior one ordering a record of its proceedings in a particular 
case to be brought to the higher court for review. 

Trials, Most of the cases tried before the Supreme 
Court are appellate cases. An appellate case is tried with- 
out a jury and without witnesses. The proceedings of the 
lower court and the evidence presented there are printed 
and laid before the judges of the Supreme Court, the at- 
torneys for both sides argue the case, and a majority of the 
judges is necessary to render a decision. 

DecisiGiis. The decisions of the Supreme Court are 
final unless the case is one of the few cases that may be 
appealed to a United States court, as, for example, a case 
involving the construction of the United States Constitu- 
tion or of a United States law or a treaty. The Supreme 
Court Reports, which contain the decisions of the court, 
are of great importance, since a decision of the Supreme 
Court must be followed by the lower courts as a precedent 
in all similar cases. 

The Superior Court. Place of Meeting. The Superior 
Court meets annually at Scranton, Williamsport, Harris- 
burg, Pittsburg, and Philadelphia and may meet at other 
places if the judges so decide. 

Judges. The Superior Court consists of seven judges, 
a president judge and six additional judges. The judge 
whose commission first expires, either as to the time of 
election or as a result of casting lots, shall be President 
Judge. A quorum consists of four judges. 

Judges of the Superior Court are elected by the voters 
of the State for a term of ten years. The term begins on 
the first Monday in January. Whenever two or more 
judges are to be elected at the same time, a voter may vote 
only for the number of judges to be elected less one. 



THE SUPERIOR COURT. 



9^ 



Vacancies are filled as in the Supreme Court ; but if 
the President Judge shall be reelected he shall continue to 
be President Judge. 

The judges of the Superior Court receive a salary of 
$9000 per annum. 

Jurisdiction. The jurisdiction of the Superior Court extends 
throughout the State. This court was established in 1895, as a 
court of intermediate appeal, to relieve the Supreme Court of some 
of its work. It is therefore a court of appeals and has no original 
jurisdiction except the power of issuing writs of habeas corpus. 

The following classes of cases are appealed to the Superior 
Court : 

1. All cases or proceedings appealed from the courts of quarter 

sessions, except cases involving the right to a public 
office. 

2. All cases or proceedings appealed from the courts of oyer 

and terminer, except cases of homicide. 

3. All cases or proceedings appealed from the courts of com- 

mon pleas or orphans' courts in which the value in 
controvers}^ does not exceed $1500 except cases in which 
the Attorney General appears in his official capacity 
and cases involving the right to a public office. 

4. Any case whatever, in which, the parties or their attorneys 

make an agreement in the lower court at any stage of 
the proceedings, that the case may be heard and de- 
cided by the Superior Court. 

The excepted cases are appealed directly to the Supreme Court. 

The following classes of cases may be appealed from the Su- 
perior Court to the Supreme Court : 

1. Cases in which the jurisdiction of the Superior Court is 

in issue. 

2. Cases involving the construction of the Constitution of the 

United States or of any law or treaty of the United 
States or of the Constitution of Pennsylvania. 

3. Cases in which an appeal to the Supreme Court is specifically 

allowed by the Superior Court or any one of its judges. 

But in any of these cases the decision of the Superior Court 
shall be final if the parties or their attorneys agree that no appeal 
shall be taken from the Superior Court. 

If, after any case is heard and decided in the Superior Court, 
four of the judges decide that the questions involved are so difficult 



92 THE GOVERNMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

or important that the case should be considered by the Supreme 
Court, it ma}' be removed to the Supreme Court for final decision. 

The trials are conducted like those in the Supreme 
Court; and a record of its decisions is also kept in the 
Tolumes of the Superior Court Reports. 

Miscellaneous. The Commonwealth's cases are tried 
in the Dauphin County courts. 

A court of record is a court whose decisions and judicial 
proceedings are printed or recorded in writing aud pre- 
served for future use and reference. Courts above magis- 
trates' courts are courts of record. 

The United States and the State have concurrent juris- 
diction over tracts of land owned by the United States 
within the State. Jurisdiction over such tracts of land is 
ceded to the United States by an act of the General Assem- 
l3ly, which act also reserves to the State concurrent juris- 
diction with the United States over such land in civil and 
criminal matters. 

No suit can be brought against the State by an indi- 
vidual without permission given by an act of General As- 
sembly. This act specifies the court in which the person 
having a claim against the State is authorized to bring suit. 

If any judge of the State has been unable to perform his 
duties for one year and a commission of three physicians 
appointed by the Governor finds him permanently disquali- 
fied by reason of mental or physical dis?tbility, and he re- 
signs within thirty days after being notified of this finding, 
lie receives half of his salarv durino; the remainder of his 
term during which he lives. 

Questions Requiring Reference to the Constitution, i. What 
courts are abolished or forbidden b}^ the Constitution? Art. V, 
sec. 21. 

2. What sentence in the Constitution shows the careful separa- 
tion of the judicial department from other departments? Art. V, 
sec. 21. 



IMPEACHMENT. 



9S 



3. Why are the Superior Court judges not elected for twenty- 
one years? Art. V, sec. 15. 

4. Why do justices of the peace not come under the provision 
that judges below the Supreme Court judges shall be elected for ten 
years? Art. V, sec. 15. 

5. What is done with fines paid in courts? Art. V, sec. 13. 

6. ■ In whose name and authority are prosecutions conducted ? 
Art. V, sec. 23. 

ARTICLE VI. 

Impeachment and Removal from Oeeice. 

Impeachment. The Governor and all other civil ofhcers 
may be impeached for misdemeanor in ofhce. Representa- 
tives and Senators can not be impeached. 

The House of Representatives has the sole power of im- 
peachment. 

The Senate has the sole power of trying impeachments. 
In trying impeachment cases the Senate sits as a court and 
for this purpose the Senators must take a new oath or af- 
firmation. A two-thirds vote of all Senators present is re- 
quired to convict a person. The punishment inflicted by the 
Senate may consist only of removal from office and dis- 
qualification to hold any office of trust or profit under the 
Commonwealth. If, however, the person impeached has 
committed an offense against the law as well as against 
the dignity of his office, he may also be tried before a court 
and punished according to law. This may be done even 
if he is acquitted after the trial of impeachm.ent. 

Removal from Office. Civil officers may be removed from office 
by conviction in case of impeachment. All officers shall be removed 
on conviction of misbehavior in office or of any infamous crime. 

Representatives and Senators can be removed b}^ expulsion from 
their respective houses by a two-thirds vote of the members. 

Appointed officers may be removed by the person or persons by 
whom they were appointed. 

Officers elected by the people, except the Governor, Lieutenanr 
Governor, members of the General Assembly, and judges learned 



94 I'HE GOVERNMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

in the law, may be removed by the Governor, for reasonable cause, 
on the address of two-thirds of the Senate. 

Judges may be removed by conviction in case of impeachment. 
If there is reasonable cause which is not sufficient ground for im- 
peachment, the Governor may remove a judge on the address of 
two-thirds of each house of the General Assembly. 

ARTICLE VII. 

The Oath of Office. 

This article states that Senators and Representatives 
and all judicial. State and county officers shall take the oath 
of office prescribed in the article before entering upon the 
duties of their respective offices. City, borough, and town- 
ship officers are also required by law to take an oath of 
•office. 

Who administers the oath to the various officers? 
Where shall the oath be hied? 
What is the effect of a refusal to take the oath? 
What is the penalt}-' for swearing falsely or for violating the 
oath of office? 

ARTICLE VIII. 

Suffrage and Elections. 

Qualifications of Voters. Amendment I to the Constitu- 
tion of Pennsylvania requires a person to have the following 
<|ualifications to entitle him to vote : 

1. He must be a male citizen. 

2. He must be at least twenty-one years of age. 

3. He must have been a citizen of the United States 
at least one month. 

4. He must have resided in the State at least one year 
immediately preceding the election, unless, having previ- 
^ously been a qualified voter or a native-born citizen of the 



METHOD OF ELECTION. 95 

State, he removed from the State and returned, then a resi- 
dence of only six months is required. 

5. He must have resided in the election district at least 
two months immediately preceding the election. 

6. If twenty-two years of age or more, he must within 
two years have paid a State or county tax which was as- 
sessed at least two months and paid at least one month 
"before election. 

7. He must be subject to all laws recjuiring and regu- 
lating the registration of voters. 

A person between twenty-one and twenty-two years of age 
may " vote on age '' without having previously paid taxes. 

A person does not gain residence by his presence or lose resi- 
dence by his absence while engaged in the public service, either civil 
or military, of the State or of the United States, while engaged in 
navigation in the waters of the State, of the United States, or on 
the high seas, while a student at any school, while kept in a poor 
house or an asylum at public expense, or while confined in prison. 

Provision is made to allow qualified voters engaged in actual 
military service to vote at all elections by opening special polling 
places for them at the places where they are serving. 

Peculiar Privileges of Voters. In all cases except trea- 
son, felony, and breach or surety of the peace, voters are 
privileged from arrest while going to the election, attend- 
ing' it, or returning from it. The right to vote is a high 
privilege granted to all persons properly qualified; and 
there shall be no interference in the exercise of this privi- 
lege by any power, civil or military, nor by scheming poli- 
ticians who might attempt to keep a voter away from the 
polls by having him arrested in a civil case or for some tri- 
vial offense. 

Method of Election. All elections by citizens shall be 
b\- ballot or by such other method as may be prescribed by 
law ; but secrecy in voting must be preserved. Laws made 
for elections by citizens must be uniform throughout the 
State; but for the registration of voters special laws may 



96 THE GOVERNMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

be enacted for the several classes of cities. All elections 
by persons in a representative capacity shall be viva voce. 

Election Districts and Polling Places. Townships and 
wards of cities and boroughs shall form election districts 
or shall be divided into election districts or voting precincts 
by the court of quarter sessions if, on the petition of twenty 
voters, the court considers that the convenience of the vot- 
ers or the public interests will be promoted by the division. 

No district formed by such division shall contain less than one 
hundred voters. The court has exclusive power in the formation of 
election districts and may fix their boundaries. An election district 
may be formed of parts of two or more adjoining to\vnships. 

In new election districts the court shall fix the places for hold- 
ing elections. On the petition of at least ten voters the county 
commissioners may change the location of the polling place, not less 
than three weeks prior to any election for reasons that the}' may 
think proper; but at their discretion the commissioners may order 
an election to be held to decide the location of the polling place. 
The Governor may change the place for holding an election if the 
prevalence of any malignant disease makes it dangerous for the 
voters to attend at the regular polling place. 

The county commissioners are required to provide and fit up a 
room for voting purposes at the polling place and if no room can 
be rented the}^ shall construct a temporary room for holding elec- 
tions. The voting room must be provided with voting shelves or 
booths which can be closed with a curtain, screen, or door. There 
must be not less than one voting shelf for every seventy-five names 
on the assessor's list, but no room shall have less than three such 
voting compartments. A guard rail shall be constructed so that no 
person outside the guard rail can approach within six feet of the 
ballot box. Neither the ballot box nor the voting booths shall be 
hidden from view. 

The Election Officers. The board of election officers 
consists of a judge of election, two inspectors of election, 
and two clerks of election, each inspector appointing a clerk. 
At the election of inspectors the voters may vote for only 
one of the two inspectors to be chosen so that the inspectors 
may be of different political parties. The tw^o inspectors are 



ELECTION OFFICERS. 



97 



known as the majority inspector and the minority inspec- 
tor. In townships divided into election districts a board of 
election officers is chosen in each district. Election officers 
are privileged from arrest on election days except upon a 
warrant of a court for an election fraud, felony, or wanton 
breach of the peace. 

The judge of election preserves order in the room and 
sees that the election laws are observed. He has charge 
of the ballot box and decides whether a person has the right 
to vote when the inspectors disagree. The inspectors of 
election decide whether a person presenting himself to 
vote is qualified to do so, and if they disagree they appeal 
to the judge for his decision. One of the inspectors hands 
out the ballots to voters and the clerks and other inspector 
check off the names of the persons voting from the ballot 
and voting check-lists and keep a record of the number of 
votes cast. 

The term of election officers is one year. It begins on 
the first Monday in Alarch. 

A vacancy in the office of judge or inspector of election is 
filled by appointment by the court of common pleas ; the person 
appointed as judge of election must belong to the party having 
the majority of votes in the district and both inspectors shall not 
be of the sam.e political party. On the day of the election, if the 
majority inspector shall fail to attend, the judge of election shall 
appoint one in his place; if the minority inspector shall fail to at- 
tend, the person who received the second highest number of votes 
for judge at the preceding election shall act in his place; if the 
judge shall not attend, the majority inspector shall appoint a judge; 
and if a vacancy exists for one hour after the time of opening 
the election, the voters present at the place of election shall elect 
one of their number to fill the vacancy. If a clerk of election 
fails to attend, the inspector who appointed him shall appoint 
another clerk to serve for the year. When a tie exists in the vote 
for judge of election, the majority inspector appoints a judge; 
and when a tie exists in the vote for inspector of election, the 
two candidates draw lots for majority inspector and the other can- 
didate shall then be the minority inspector. 

7 



98 THE GOVERNMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

The oath is administered to the judge of election by the minority 
inspector and the other election officers are then sworn by the 
judge. 

Besides the election officers, a number of voters not exceedino^ 
ten, the assessor, the constable, overseers of election, and party 
watchers are allowed to be in the voting room. On the petition 
of at least five citizens of an election district that such precaution 
is necessary, the judges of the court of common pleas shall appoint 
two overseers of election, of different political parties, to supervise 
the proceedings of the election officers. Each party or group of 
citizens making nominations may appoint three watchers, but only 
one of these may be in the voting room at the same time. 

The Primaries. Classes. The '' Uniform Primaries 
Act " passed by the special session of the General Assembly 
in 1906 provides for two primaries. A primary is an elec- 
tion, preceding a regular election, at w^hich candidates for 
public offices are nominated and delegates to conventions 
and party officers are chosen. 

The zvinfcr primary is held on the fourth Saturday before 
the February election. At this primary, candidates for all 
offices to be filled at the February election are nominated 
and committeemen and such other party officers as shall, 
by the rules of the several political parties, be elected by 
the people, are elected. 

The spring pr Unary is held on the first Saturday in June 
except in years when presidential electors are to be chosen, 
wdien it shall be held on the second Saturday in April. At 
this primary, candidates for all offices to be filled at the gen- 
eral election except those nominated by National or State 
conventions, are nominated and delegates to State and Na- 
tional conventions, except delegates at large to National 
conventions, are elected. Party officers may also be elected 
at this primary. 

Delegates at large to the National conventions are elected by 
the State convention. State conventions nominate candidates for 
Governor and other State officers elected bv the voters of the State 



PRIMARY ELECTIONS. 99 

at large. Among the State officers not nominated by State con- 
ventions are Judges of the comity courts, State Senators, and State 
Representatives. 

Any party or body of electors, one of whose candidates received 
two per cent of the highest vote cast for a candidate at a regular 
election of the preceding year, is allowed to nominate candidates 
at these primaries. 

Candidates for borough and township offices need not be nom- 
inated according to this law. Candidates to be chosen at special 
elections shall not be nominated according to this law. Candidates 
for presidential electors must not be nominated according to this 
law but may be if the rules of the party so provide. 

Any association of voters not constituting a party may nominate 
candidates by nomination papers. 

Hoz^' conducted. The teacher should secure specimen 
ballots, both primary ballots and regular election ballots, 
and explain, according to directions on the ballots, how they 
are marked by the voter. Copies of ballots may also be cut 
out of newspapers advertising the election. 

The primaries are conducted in the same manner, by 
the same officers, and under similar conditions as the regu- 
lar elections. The polls are open between 2 p. m. and 8 p. m. 
Liquor shall not be sold on primary election days from i p 
m. to 9 p. m. 

The qualifications of voters are the same as for other 
elections. \Mien the voter appears before the election of- 
ficers he asks for the ballot of his party. If his right to 
vote for the candidates of that party is challenged, he mAist 
make affidavit that at the preceding general election at 
which he voted, he voted for the majority of the candidates 
of the party for whose ballot he asks. Xo voter may receive 
assistance in marking his ballot unless he makes affidavit 
that he can not read the names on the ballot or is physically 
unable to mark his ballot. 

After the election the returns are computed and deliv- 
ered by the judge of elections to the county commissioners, 
either in person or by registered mail, on or before noon of 



lOO THE GOVERNMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

the Tuesday following. The candidate having a plurality 
of votes is the candidate of his party. 

The expenses for holding the primaries are paid by the 
county but the county is afterwards reimbursed for these 
expenses by the State. 

Nominations for the Primaries. Candidates for the pri- 
maries are proposed or nominated by party meetings, party 
caucuses, conventions of delegates, or popular meetings of 
voters. 

Nomination Papers. Candidates for office may be nominated 
by nomination papers. If the nomination is made for any office to 
be filled by the voters of the State at large, the nomination paper 
must be signed by at least one-half per cent, and in case of a 
nomination for another offxce, by at least two per cent, of the 
largest vote cast for any officer at the last preceding election in 
the division for which the nomination is made. 

Nomination papers for candidates for United States and State 
offices must be filed with the Secretary of the Commonwealth at 
least thirty-five days before the election ; for township and borough 
offices, with the count}^ commissioners at least fifteen days before 
the election; and for all other offices, with the county commissioners 
at least twenty-one days before the election. 

Regular Elections. Classes. Two regular elections are 
held annually in Pennsylvania, the general election and the 
local or February election. 

The February election is held on the third Tuesday of 
February. At this election city, borough, and township of- 
ficers are elected. 

The general election is held on the first Tuesday after 
the first ]\Ionday in November. The General Assembly 
may, by a two-thirds vote, fix a different day for the choos- 
ing of all officers chosen at this election except United States 
Representatives. County officers, some State officers, and 
United States Representatives and presidential electors are 
chosen at this election. 



REGULAR ELECTIONS. lOl 

Hozi' Conducted. Only the election officers, voters ad- 
mitted by them, and officers admitted by their authority to 
preserve order or enforce the law are allowed to be within 
the guard rail. The polls are open from 7 a. m. to 7 p. m. 
Liquor is not to be sold or given away on any election day. 

AMien the voter appears in the election room he shall 
give his name and residence to the inspector in charge of 
the ballots. If his name is found on the ballot check list, 
the voter receives a ballot and is allowed to enter the space 
within the guard rail to vote, unless his right to vote is chal- 
lenged. He then proceeds to one of the voting shelves 
where, having closed the compartment, he shall mark his 
ballot without undue delay, and, passing on the other side 
of the election board, he drops his ballot, properly folded, 
into the ballot box. 

If a voter desires to vote for a person whose name is not 
on the ballot, at a primary or regular election, he may write 
or paste his name in the blank space provided for that pur- 
pose. 

An}' qualified citizen may challenge a person's right to vote. 
In case of a challenge the person desiring to vote is required to 
prove that he is properly qualified before he is allowed to vote. 

If a voter declares to the judge that by reason of some dis- 
ability he desires assistance in marking his ballot, the judge allows 
him to select a qualified voter to assist him in preparing his ballot. 

Xo person may electioneer or solicit votes within the election 
room ; and a voter must not allow his ballot to be seen with the 
intention of showing how he voted. 

After the polls are closed, only the election officers re- 
main within the guard rail and at once proceed to count 
the votes within full view of any other persons in the room. 
When the votes are counted, the result must be announced 
to the citizens present and a statement showing the number 
of votes received by each candidate must be posted on the 
door of the election house for the information of the public. 



I02 THE GOVERNMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

The ballot box containing the tickets and other papers shall 
be put in the safe keeping of some person designated by the court 
of common pleas, or, where no such person is designated by the 
court, it is delivered to the nearest justice of the peace, to be kept 
b5^ this person until needed for the next election. In cities it is 
deposited with the mayor. 

The judge of election must deliver the returns to the proper 
official before 2 p. m. on the day following the election if the dis- 
tance to the county seat is within twelve miles by wagon road or 
twenty-four miles by railroad ; before 12 m. on the second day 
after the election, if the distance is greater. The returns of national. 
State, county, and city elections are taken to the prothonotary ; of 
township and borough elections, to the clerk of the court of quarter 
sessions. When the returns directed to be delivered to the pro- 
thonotary are received by him, the judges of the court of common 
pleas compute the returns and when their work is completed the 
prothonotary sends a copy of these linal returns to the Secretary of 
the Commonwealth. 

Contested Elections. The General Assembly has classified con- 
tested elections as follows : 

1. The Governor and Lieutenant Governor. 

2. Presidential electors and all State officers (except Governor 
and Lieutenant Governor) who are elected by the voters of the 
State at large. 

3. Judges of the courts of record other than judges of the 
Supreme Court. 

4. All other officers except members of the General Assembly. 

For contested elections of the first class see Article IV. Con- 
tested elections of the second class are tried and determined by 
the court of common pleas of Dauphin Count}'; of the judges of 
judicial districts, before the court of common pleas of the county 
in which the person returned as elected resides ; of county and 
township officers, by the court of quarter sessions of the county 
in which the election was held. 

Bribery and Corruption. Any person who gives or 
offers a bribe of any kind or who receives a bribe is subject 
to the penalties prescribed in Article Ylll, sections 8 and 9, 
of the Constitution ; and besides these, various penalties are 
prescribed by law. Heavy penalties are also provided for 
violation of the election laws. 



STATE TAXES. 103 

Questions Requiring Reference to the Constitution, i. What 
parts of Article VIII are inoperative? Sec. i, 4, 7- 

2. What causes of disfranchisement are mentioned in Article 
VIII, sections 8 and 9? 

3. How may a person be disqualified to hold any office under 
the Commonwealth? Art. VI, sec. 3; Art. VIII, sec. 9; Art. IX, 
sec. 14; Art. XII, sec. 3. 

4. How may the right to an office be forfeited? Art. II, sec. 
6; Art. V, sec. 19; Art. VI, sec. 3; Art. VIII, sec. 15. 

5. In a contested election, may a person be required to testify 
against himself? Art. VIII, sec. 10. 

6. In what case may women vote in Pennsylvania? Art. X, 
sec. 3. 

Other References in the Constitution. Art. I, sec. 5 ; 
Amendments i, 2, 3. 

ARTICLE IX. . 
Taxation axd Finance. 

State Taxes. The General Assembly has the power to 
pass laws to levy and collect taxes ; but all taxes must be 
uniform, on the same class of subjects. If possible the 
Assembly avoids levying a tax on real estate and such a tax 
has not been levied for many years. 

The income of the State derived from taxation is classified as 
follows : 

I. Taxes received directly from the taxables. The rate varies 
from three mills to five per cent. 

1. Tax on the capital stock of corporations and various part- 
nerships. 

2. Tax on comity, municipal, borough, and corporate loans. 

3. Tax on the gross receipts of transportation, transmission, 
and electric light companies. 

4. Tax on the stock of banks and savings institutions. 

5. Tax on the gross premiums of insurance companies. 

6. Tax on the net income of brokers and private bankers. 

7. Tax on the matured shares of building and loan associations. 

8. Tax on the gross receipts of notaries public in Philadelphia 
County. 



I04 'THE GOVERNMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

IL Taxes received from officers collecting State taxes. 

1. State tax on personal property. — This consists mainly of a 
tax of four mills on money on interest. It is collected by the col- 
lectors of the comity tax. 

2. Tax on inheritance. — A direct inheritance tax of two per ■ 
cent is levied on all personal property exceeding $5000 of an estate 
inherited by will or otherwise. A collateral inheritance tax of five 
per cent is levied on property inherited by any persons except 
direct ancestors or direct descendants and daughters-in-law of the 
person from whom the property is inherited. Inheritance taxes are 
collected by the registers of wills. 

3. Licenses. — Merchants and other business men pay a mer- 
cantile license, collected by mercantile appraisers. 

The State receives twenty-five per cent of the regular liquor 
licenses and all of the additional license tax imposed by the act of 
Assembly approved March 29, 1907. The retail liquor license in 
cities of the first and second classes is $1000 and $100 additional; 
in cities of the third class, $500 and $50 additional; in boroughs, 
$200 and $50 additional; in townships, $100 and $25 additional. 
Proprietors of theaters, circuses, and menageries are also required 
to pay a license. These licenses are paid to the treasurer of the 
county. 

4. Tax on wTits, wills, and similar papers. 

5. Tax on fees of office. 

United States property in the State, churches, hospitals, school 
houses, colleges, court houses, and public buildings and grounds 
in general are exempt from some or all taxes ; but no property not 
used for public purposes shall be exempt from taxation. 

The Public Debt. The General Assembly may enact 
laws authorizing the borrowing of money by the State ; but 
all these laws must specify the purpose for which the money 
is borrowed and the money borrowed may not be used for 
any other purpose. Money is borrowed by issuing bonds. 

]\Ioney may be borrowed only for the following pur- 
poses : 

1. To supply casual deficiences of revenue. 

2. To repel ini^asions, suppress insurrections, and de- 
fend the State in w^ar. 

3. To pay existing debt. 



RECEIPTS AND EXPENDITURES. 



105 



A debt created to supply deficiencies in revenue shall 
never exceed $1,000,000. 

The Si)iking Fund is a sum of money set aside and main- 
tained for the purpose of paying the public debt of the 
State. It must be sufficient to pay the interest of the debt 
and to reduce the principal at least $250,000 each year. 
The debt of the State is at present very nearly covered 
by the sinking fund. The net public debt of the State in 
1908 was $72,334. 

Receipts and Expenditures of the State. Nearly all the 
receipts of the State are derived from taxes levied by the 
State, from fines for the violation of game, fish, pure food, 
and other laws, and from interest on State deposits. 

The expenditures consist mainly of salaries of State 
officers, expenses for the maintenance of public buildings, 
appropriations for schools, hospitals, and charitable institu- 
tions, and for the payment of the interest and principal of 
the public debt. 

The debt of a county, city, borough, township, school 
district, or other municipality shall never exceed seven per 
cent of the assessed value of the taxable property; and no 
debt greater than two per cent of the assessed valuation 
can be created without the assent of the voters given at a 
public election. 

Questions Requiring Reference to the Constitution. i. May 

the State assume the debt of a county, city, borough, or township? 
Art. IX, sec. 9. 

2. What provisions must a county, township, or other muni- 
cipality make for the payment of a debt? Art. IX, sec 10. 

3. A\"hat revenue shall be placed in the sinking fund? Art. 
IX, sec. II, 12. 

4. For what purpose besides paying the public debt may the 
sinking fund possibly be used ? Art. IX, sec. 11. 

5. ]\Iay the public money be used by an officer of the State for 
private purposes ? Art. IX, sec. 14. 



io6 THE GOVERNMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

ARTICLE X. 

Education. 

The State Constitution provides for the education of all 
children of the State over six years of age and enjoins 
upon the General Assembly to provide for the maintenance 
of an efficient system of public schools. 

The Public School System. The Swedes had schools 
in Pennsylvania before Penn's arrival ; but the foundation 
of the public schools of the State was laid by William Penn 
and the Assembly in 1683, when a law was enacted which. 
in some respects, was tw^o hundred years ahead of the times, 
since it provided not only for universal education under the 
supervision of the government but also for industrial and 
compulsory education. 

This law provided '' That all persons in this Province and Ter- 
ritories thereof, having children, and all guardians and trustees 
of orphans, shall cause such to be instructed in reading and writ- 
ing, so that they may be able to read the Scriptures and to write 
by the time they attain to twelve years of age ; and that they be 
taught some useful trade or skill, that the poor may work to live, 
and the rich if they become poor may not want ; of v/hich every 
County Court shall take care." A line of five pounds for every 
child w^as made the penalty for neglecting to obey the provisions 
of the law. 

Most of the earlier schools were sectarian schools and 
the teacher usually was the minister or his assistant, but 
separate schools were soon established. There was such de- 
cided opposition to the education of children at public ex- 
pense that before 1834 most of the schools w^ere pay schools. 

In 1834 the free school law was passed, but each district 
was allowed to decide by an election whether the law should 
be adopted or not. The last district in the State accepted 
the law in 1874. The free textbook law was passed in 1893 
and a compulsory education law in 1895. 



SCHOOIv OFFICIALS. 



107 



School Districts. Each city, borough, and township 
constitutes a separate school district. Cities of the first, 
second, and third classes are respectively school districts of 
the first, second, and third classes, while other school dis- 
tricts are classified as school districts of the fourth class. 

Independent school districts, in which the people pa}^ their own 
school expenses, may be established by the court of quarter ses- 
sions after petition to the court of at least twenty taxable inhabit- 
ants and recommendation of commissioners appointed by the court. 
They elect their own directors and auditors. 

School Officials. The care and supervision of the com- 
mon schools is entrusted to a Superintendent of Public In- 
struction, county, city, and borough superintendents, town- 
ship superintendents and supervising principals, boards of 
school directors, and teachers. 

School Directors. Number, Term, and Election. Each 
township elects six school directors, for a term of three 
years, two being elected each year. The term begins on the 
first Monday in June. An undivided borough, like a town- 
ship, elects six school directors. In boroughs divided into 
wards, from one to three directors are elected from each 
ward. 

In cities of first class the control of the schools is vested in a 
Superintendent of Schools and a Board of Public Education, con- 
sisting of twenty-one members, appointed by the judges of com- 
mon pleas, for a term of three years, beginning on the first Mon- 
day in January. Each ward has a sectional school board of twelve 
members, chosen by the voters, for a term of three years beginning 
on the second Monday succeeding their election. No voter may vote 
for more than three out of four candidates for regular terms. They 
visit the schools and call the attention of the Board of Education 
to matters requiring oflficial action. In cities of the second and 
third classes, education is under the supervision of a city superin- 
tendent and a board of school directors or school controllers com- 
posed of two or more members from each ward. 



io8 THE GOVERNMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

Vacancies in the office of school director are filled by the 
directors themselves until the next election. A tie vote in 
the election for school director is decided by drawing lots. 

Women not less than twenty-one years of age may be 
elected to any office connected with the public schools. 

Duties. The school directors are at the head of the 
educational department of the township and in this capacity 
they elect teachers for the schools and fix their salaries, 
build and repair school houses, provide school supplies, fix 
the length of the school term, arrange the course of study, 
meet with the teachers and decide upon a series of text- 
books, and one or more of them shall visit each school in 
the district at least once each month. The school term can 
however not be made less than seven months and the mini- 
mum salary is $40 per month. 

They must provide a sufficient number of common 
schools for the accommodation of persons between six and 
twenty-one years of age; and they may grade the schools 
and may establish township high schools. 

The school directors have authority to act as a board of 
health. They must enforce the vaccination law and are re- 
quired to prohibit the attendance at school of children hav- 
ing contagious or infectious diseases during the period of 
sickness and for a stated number of days thereafter. 

Every three years the directors of the county meet in con- 
vention to elect a county superintendent ; and they are an- 
nually called together by the county superintendent in the 
convention of the School Directors' Association. 

School directors serve without pay. The board organizes on 
the first Monday in June, by electing a president, secretary, and 
treasurer. The person chosen as secretary administers the oath to 
the president and the president then qualifies the other directors. 

Attendance. Every child between the ages of six and 
twenty-one years and a resident of the school district may 
attend the public schools. Every child between the ages of 



SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION. 



109 



eight and sixteen years must attend school during the entire 
term ; but the directors may reduce the period of compul- 
sory attendance to not less than seventy per cent of the 
school term; and any child between the ages of fourteen 
and sixteen years who has regular employment and holds 
a certificate as to age and ability to read and write the Eng- 
lish language intelligently is not compelled to attend school. 
The directors are required to appoint one or more at- 
tendance officers to apprehend truants and see that all chil- 
dren included by the compulsory law are attending school. 
No children can be compelled to attend school a distance of 
over two miles. 

The Superintendent of Public Instruction is appointed 
by the Governor with the advice and consent of two-thirds 
of the Senate, for a term of four years. His salary is 
$5000 per annum. 

He is the head of the educational department of the 
Commonwealth and as such he renders decisions and inter- 
pretations of the school law and gives advice and informa- 
tion to school officers and citizens concerning school affairs. 
He shall submit an annual report to the General Assembly, 
and signs all orders on the State Treasurer for the payment 
of money to district treasurers. 

He commissions the superintendents of schools and may 
remove them for neglect of duty, incompetency, or im- 
morality. In each county and city he appoints a committee 
of three teachers, to examine applicants for permanent cer- 
tificates and grants such certificates to persons who success- 
fully pass these examinations. College graduates may re- 
ceive permanent State teachers' certificates after teaching 
three full school terms in the State. 

The Superintendent of Public Instruction is 

The following is a list of the Superintendents of Common 
Schools and Superintendents of Public Instruction of Pennsylvania : 
Henry C. Hitchcock— 1857— 1860. 



no THE GOVERNMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

Thomas H. Burrowes — 1860 — 1863. 
Charles R. Coburn— 1863— 1866. 
James P. Wickersham — 1866 — 1881. 
E. E. Higbee— 1881— 1890. 
D. J. Waller— 1890— 1893. 
Nathan C. Schaeffer— 1893— 

County Superintendents are elected by the school direc- 
tors, by viva voce vote, on the first Tuesday i^ May, a ma- 
jority being required to elect. The term is three years and 
begins on the first Monday in June. 

The county superintendent has supervision of the public 
schools of the entire county except in cities and in those bor- 
oughs and townships which have their own superintendents 
of schools. He is the head of the educational department 
of the county. 

He holds annual examinations of applicants for teachers 
in the public schools and grants certificates to such as are 
properly qualified. No certificate shall be granted to any 
person of immoral habits or to persons habitually using in- 
toxicating drinks or opium. The county superintendent 
may grant provisional teachers' certificates, which are good 
for one year, and professional certificates, to skillful teach- 
ers, which expire one year after the close of the superinten- 
dent's term. 

It is his duty to visit the schools as often as practicable. 
He gives advice to teachers and endeavors to improve the 
educational affairs of the county in general. 

Once in each year he is required to hold a county teachers* 
institute. Cities and boroughs having a superintendent and 
employing not less than fifty teachers may hold a separate 
teachers' institute. 

The county superintendent must be a " person of literary 
and scientific acquirements, and of skill and experience in 
the art of teaching." 

No person is ehgible to the office of count)^ city, or borough 
superintendent miless he possesses a college or Normal School 



STATE NORMAL SCHOOLS. Ill 

diploma, a State certificate, a professional certificate issued at least 
one year prior to election, or a certificate of competency from the 
Superintendent of Public Instruction, and unless he has a sound 
moral character and has had successful experience in teaching with- 
in three years of the time of his election; but serving as a county, 
city, or borough superintendent shall be deemed a sufficient test 
of qualifications. 

The salary received by the county superintendent from the 
State shall not be less than $1000 nor more than $2000 per year, 
and in counties having an area of 1200 square miles or a school 
term exceeding seven and one-half months, his salary shall not be 
less than $1500. The convention of directors electing him may 
however vote him a larger salary, but such increase must be paid 
out of the school fund appropriated for the county. 

A vacancy in the office of county superintendent is filled by 
appointment by the Superintendent of Public Instruction for the 
remainder of the term. If objections are made to the election of a 
county superintendent they are investigated by the Superintendent 
of Public Instruction and if found valid he issues the commission 
to the person properly qualified who received the greatest number 
of votes. 

The oath of the county superintendent must be administered 
to him by a judge of common pleas or by the Superintendent of 
Public Instruction. 

In townships and boroughs having over 5000 inhabitants, 
the directors may elect a township superintendent and in 
townships having over 4000 population they may elect a 
supervising principal. 

State Normal Schools. In 1857 a law was passed pro- 
viding for the establishment of State Normal Schools. The 
object of these schools is the educating and training of 
young men and women to be teachers in the public schools 
of the State. They are under the management of eighteen 
trustees, nine elected by the stockholders and nine appointed 
by the Superintendent of Public Instruction. 

The State examinations of students are conducted by a 
board of examiners appointed by the Superintendent of 
Public Instruction. Those who pass the examinations for 



1 12 THE GOVERN AIENT OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

graduation successfully receive a State Normal School Cer~ 
tificate, entitling them to teach for two terms. After two 
years of successful teaching they are granted a State Nor- 
mal School Diploma, which entitles them to teach without 
further examination. The tuition of each student over 
seventeen years of age, who signs an agreement to teach 
two full terms in the common schools of the State and re- 
ceives regular instruction in pedagogy, is paid by the State. 

High Schools and Other Schools. High schools shall 
have a course of study not less than two years and not more 
than four years beyond the courses of study in the elemen- 
tary schools. High schools with a four years', a three 
3'ears', and a two years' course are known respectively as 
high schools of the first, second, and third class. 

Besides the public schools and high schools, the school 
directors of any district may establish and maintain evening 
schools, kindergartens, schools for adults, and public libra- 
ries, and may purchase books and apparatus for the educa- 
tion of indigent blind children between nine and thirteen 
years of age. They may establish industrial schools in 
cities, boroughs, and townships of the first class; manual 
training schools, in any city; and schools for deaf mutes in 
districts with more than 20,000 inhabitants and having eight 
or more deaf mute children. 

The Pennsylvania State College, which was established in 1855 
as the Farmers' High School of Pennsylvania, and The State Forest 
Academy, established in 1903, are also under State supervision. 

Among other State schools and institutions at which instruc- 
tion is given are the Soldiers' Orphan Schools at Chester Springs 
and Uniontown ; the Soldiers' Orphans' Industrial School, Scot- 
land ; the Penns34vania Reform School, Morganza ; the Pennsjd- 
vania Industrial Ref ormator}', Huntingdon ; the State Institution 
for Feeble-Minded of Western Pennsylvania, Polk; and the Home 
for Training in Speech of Deaf Children before they are of School 
Age, Philadelphia. The State also provides and supports a school 
for the Cornplanter Indians of Warren County. 



THE STATE MILITIA. 113 

Taxation and Appropriation. The Constitution pro- 
vides that the General Assembly shall appropriate not less 
than $1,000,000 annually to the public schools of the State. 

One-third of the State appropriation to the public schools is 
distributed on the basis of the number of regular teachers of the 
district, one-third on the number of children between six and six- 
teen years of age, and one-third on the basis of the number of taxa- 
bles. The State appropriation, or a part of it, may be withheld for 
neglect or refusal to comply with certain provisions of the school 
laws. No appropriation may be 'made for the use of a sectarian 
school. 

The school directors may levy a school tax which shall 
not exceed thirteen mills for school purposes and thirteen 
mills for building purposes, but the rate of building tax 
shall never be more than the rate for school purposes. A 
tax not exceeding one mill may be levied for library pur- 
poses, but this tax must be included in the tax levied for 
school purposes. The. school board may also levy an ad^ 
ditional poll or per capita tax of one dollar on every male 
inhabitant twenty-one years or more of age, which tax shall 
be in lieu of the occupation tax for school purposes. In first 
class cities an appropriation of not less than five mills shall 
be made by councils for school purposes. 

ARTICLE XI. 

The: M11.1T1A. 

The State Militia. The States do not keep standing 
bodies of troops in regular service, but each State has an 
organized militia and receives the encouragement of Con- 
gress in this respect. (See U. S. Const., Art. I, sec. 10, 

C1.3). 

The Constitution of Pennsylvania provides that the free- 
men shall be armed, organized, and disciplined for defense 
when directed by law. The General Assembly shall make 
appropriations for maintaining the militia. The militia 



114 '^^E GOVERNMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

of Pennsylvania consists of organized militia and reserve 
militia. The organized militia is called the National Guard. 
There were 1,072,473 men subject to military duty in 
Pennsylvania in 1908. 

The National Guard of Pennsylvania. Composition. In time 
of peace the National Guard shall consist of not more than one 
hundred eight}^ companies of infantr}^ twelve troops of cavalry, 
live batteries of artillery, four companies of engineers, a signal 
corps of one company, and a hospital corps. There shall not be 
more than one major general or five brigadier generals. In time 
of war, riot, or other times of danger the size of the organized 
militia may be increased. Enlistments in the National Guard are 
voluntary and for a period of three years. The National Guard 
of Penns3dvania numbers 10,048 men (1908). 

Officers. The officers are commissioned by the Governor for a 
term of five years. The Governor is Commander-in-chief. 

The division (the National Guard itself) is commanded by a 
Major General, who is appointed by the Governor with the consent 
of the Senate. 

Each brigade is commanded by a Brigadier General, appointed 
like the Major General. The National Guard has three brigades. 

Each regiment has one Colonel, one Lieutenant-Colonel, and 
not more than three Majors. These officers are elected by the com- 
missioned officers of the companies of the regiment. 

Each company and troop has one Captain, one First Lieutenant, 
and one Second Lieutenant. A battery of artillery has a Captain, 
two First Lieutenants and one Second Lieutenant. These officers 
are elected by the noncommissioned officers and privates of the com- 
pany except in the hospital corps, for which the}^ are appointed by 
the commander-in-chief. 

Officers are retired at the age of sixty-four years ; and they 
may be retired, on their own application to the Governor, after 
service of forty years as officer or soldier. 

Service. The National Guard is of great service in 
suppressing riots or insurrections within the State. It is 
the most powerful agent of the State that may be used by 
the Governor in enforcing the law. When called into the 
service of the nation, it is also a powerful adjunct to the 
regular army of the United States. 



PUBLIC OFFICERS. 



115 



The various companies meet frequently for drill and 
practice and once a year the entire National Guard meets 
in a summer camp for practice, drill, and instruction. 

The Naval Force of the State of Pennsylvania. The 

State Xaval ^Militia was established by the act of 1893. In 
time of peace the Xaval Force shall not exceed one regi- 
ment of two na\'al battalions. 

ARTICLE XII. 
Public Ofi^icers. 

Officers for Whom Provision is made in the Constitu- 
tion. Let the student make a list of officers — 

1. For wdiose election to office the Constitution provides. 

2. For whose appointment to office the Constitution 
provides. 

3. For whose succession to office the Constitution pro- 
vides. 

4. A list of the most important officers for whose elec- 
tion or appointment the Constitution does not directly pro- 
vide. 

Incompatible Offices. Incompatibility. The following state- 
ments of incompatibility are taken from the State Constitution 
and from various laws passed by the General Assembly : 

A United States officer, whether executive, legislative, or judi- 
cial, can not be justice of the peace, notary public, mayor, burgess, 
alderman, resident physician of the lazaretto, constable, election 
officer, or county controller. 

An offixcer of the United States, State, cotmty, city, or an in- 
corporate district, whether in the legislative, executive, or judicial 
department, and a person who has within two months held any 
office under the United States, State, county, or city, except justices 
of the peace and militia officers, can not be an election officer. 

A State officer receiving salary or fees can not be a member of 
Congress, a United States officer, or a district attorney. 

The Governor and Lieutenant Governor can not be a member 
of Congress or hold any United States or other State office. 



ii6 THE GOVERNMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

A judge of any court in the State can not be a practicing at- 
torney, alderman, or notary public. 

A member of the General Assembly can not be district attorney, 
city councilman, member of Congress, or any United States or 
State officer, except attorney-at-law and in the militia. 

A county commissioner can not be a school director or a mem- 
ber of the board of health. 

A county treasurer can not be a judge, prothonotary, clerk of 
the courts, register of wills, recorder of deeds, county commis- 
sioner, or county auditor. 

A county auditor can not be a guardian of the poor, prison 
inspector, controller of public schools, member of the board of 
health, or person employed in the sheriff's, commissioner's, or treas- 
urer's office. 

A county controller can not be a county commissioner, county 
treasurer, prothonotary, clerk of the courts, register of wills, re- 
corder of deeds, sheriff, district attorney, or chief clerk or deputy 
in one of these offices. 

A member of the board of health can not be an}^ other officer 
except school director, constable, or election officer. 

An alderman and an attorney-at-law can not be prison inspector. 

Member of city councils, guardian of the poor, member of the 
board of health, and prison inspector are incompatible with each 
other. 

A member of city councils can not be an officer chosen by coun- 
cils or a city or county officer chosen by the people. 

A chief burgess can not hold any other borough office nor be 
a member of council. 

A justice of the peace can not be prothonotary, clerk of the 
courts, or associate judge. 

A township or borough auditor can not be a school director, 
constable, path-master, or commissioner of roads. 

A township commissioner can not hold another township office. 

A township treasurer can not be a school director, township 
commissioner, or township auditor. 

Any person legally convicted of exercising incompatible offices 
shall forfeit not less than $50 nor more than $500, one-half of 
which is applied to the support of the poor and one-half is given 
to the prosecutor. 

Ineligibility. Certain officers are declared by law ineligible to 
certain other offices : 

A member of the General Assembly can not be appointed to a 
civil office of the State during his term. 



AMENDMENTS. 



117 



A judges clerk of the courts, prothonotary, register of wills, 
recorder of deeds, county commissioner, or county auditor is not 
eligible as county treasurer ; and a county commissioner and a coun- 
ty auditor are not eligible as county treasurer for one year after 
the expiration of the term of office. 

A county treasurer is not eligible as county auditor for two 
years after going out of office. 

A United States officer is not eligible as county controller for 
one 3'ear after going out of offixe ; and a county commissioner, coun- 
ty treasurer, prothonotary, register of wills, clerk of the . courts, 
recorder of deeds, sheriff, district attorney, and their chief clerks 
or deputies, not for two years thereafter. 

A district attorney is not eligible to the General Assembly or 
any State office. 

A county commissioner is not eligible as a school director or a 
member of a board of health. 

An alderman or a practicing attorney is not eligible as a prison 
inspector. 

A member of city councils is not eligible to any office chosen 
by councils. 

An election officer is not eligible to any office except that of 
election officer. 

Compatibility. In several instances the law states that two of- 
fices may be held at the same time by one person : 

A township treasurer may be treasurer of the school board. 

A school director, constable, or election officer may be a mem- 
ber of the board of health. 

A justice of the peace ma}- be an election officer. 

Articles XIII and XIV are discussed under county gov- 
ernment and Article XV under city government. Article 

XVI makes provisions concerning corporations and Article 

XVII concernino: railroads and canals. 



^fe 



ARTICLE XVIII. 

Amendments. 

How Made. Amendments to the State Constitution 
may be made as follows : 

I. An amendment may originate in either house of the 
General Assembly and is proposed by a joint resolution 



ii8 THE GOVERNMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

agreed to by a majority of the members elected to each 
house. The vote must be taken by yeas and nays. 

2. The proposed amendment must be pubHshed by the 
Secretary of the CommonweaUh, three months before the 
next general election, in at least two newspapers in every 
county in which so many newspapers are published. 

3. The resolution proposing the amendment must again 
be passed by the next General Assembly. 

4. The proposed amendment must again be published. 

5. It must be submitted to the voters of the State, at 
least three months after its second proposal by the General 
Assembly, to be ratified or rejected. If it receives a majority 
of the popular votes it is a part of the Constitution. 

No amendment or amendments may be submitted oftener 
than once in five years. When two or more are submitted 
at one time they shall be voted on separately. 

Amendments Added. Thred amendments have been 
added to the Constitution. They were ratified on general 
election day, Novem.ber 5, 1901. Amendment I changed 
section i. Article VIII; Amendment II, section 4, Article 
VIII ; and Amendment III, section 7, Article VIII. 



APPENDIX. 



The National Government in the State. The student 
should explain each of the following topics in its relation 
to the State of Pennsylvania or in its connection with the 
State government : 

1. Presidential Electors. — The State Electoral College. " 

2. United States Senators. 

3. United States Representatives. — Congressionl Dis- 
tricts. 

4. United States Judicial Circuits and Districts. — 
United States Judges. — United States Courts. 

5. Postoffices. 

6. Custom-houses. — There are custom-houses at Phil- 
adelphia, Erie, and Pittsburg. 

7. The Subtreasury at Philadelphia. — The }\Iint. 

8. National Banks. 

9. Pnternal Revenue. — The United States is divided 
into districts and a collector is appointed by the President 
for each district. 

10. Immigration. — An immigrant station, in charge of 
a Commissioner of Immigration, is established at Philadel- 
phia. 

The States and Territories may appoint Immigration Agents 
to represent them at the various immigrant stations for the purpose 
of informing the immigrants of the special inducements offered to 
aliens to settle in the State or Territory represented by the agent. 

11. Quarantine. — State quarantine station at ]\Iarcus 
Hook, Delaware County. Further protection afforded by 
United States quarantine stations at Delaware Breakwater 
and Reedy Island. 

(119) 



I20 THE GOVERNMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

12. The Weather Service. — The United States Weather 
Bureau has regular stations at Philadelphia, Pittsburg, Erie, 
and Harrisburg; and in nearly every county there is one 
or more volunteer observers. 

13. The Carlisle Indian School. — This school was 
opened on October 5, 1879, with 82 Sioux boys and girls as 
pupils. 

14. The National Military Park at Gettysburg. — Es- 
tablished in 1895 as a military park for the training of 
United States and State soldiers. 

15. The Philadelphia Navy Yard. 

16. The Life-Saving Service. — There is a life-saving 
station on the north side entrance of Erie harbor. 

Legal Holidays. The following days are legal holidays 
and half-holidays in Pennsylvania: January i. New Year's 
Day; February 12, Lincoln's Birthday; the third Tuesday 
in February, Election Day; February 22, Washington's 
Birthday; Good Friday; May 30, Mem.orial Day; July 4, 
Independence Day; the first Monday in September, Labor 
Day; the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November, 
General Election Day; Thanksgiving Day; December 25, 
Christmas; October 12, Columbus Day; and every Satur- 
day from 12 o'clock noon to 12 o'clock midnight. 

Whenever any of these dates happen to fall on a Sunday, 
the following Monday shall be observed as a holiday. Banks 
are allowed to do business on Saturday afternoons if their 
directors vote to do so. 

The State Capitol. In 1729 the Assembly of Pennsyl- 
vania passed a resolution to build a State House. It was 
commenced in 1732 but not fully completed till 1745. A 
part of it was occupied by the Assembly in 1735. Pre- 
vious to the building of the State House, the Assembly of 
Pennsylvania met in private houses, in a school house, and 
in a Quaker meeting-house. 

The first capitol at Harrisburg was built in 1819 to 1821. 
Before the completion of this building the State legislature 



THE STATE FLAG. 



121 



met in the Dauphin County court house. The capitol was 
destroyed by fire on February 2, 1897. A new capitol was 
commenced in 1898, which was occupied by the General 
Assembly in 1899, but was not fully completed till 1906. 

The State Flag. The banner of the Penns was never 
tmfurled in Pennsylvania. The flag known as the provin- 
cial flag of Pennsylvania was designed by Franklin and was 
carried for the flrst time by the Associators, as the provin- 
cial militia was called, at the time of King George's War. 




(By courtesy of the publishers, the illustration of the Provincial Flag was 
modeled after a similar illustration found in Dr. Shimraell's History of Pennsyl- 
vania.) 

The State Flag adopted by act of June 13, 1907, is de- 
scribed in the flrst two sections of the act as follows : 



" Section i. Be it enacted, &c., That the flag to be known as 
the official flag of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania shall be of 



122 



THE GOVERXMEXT OF PEXXSYLVAXIA. 



blue, same color as the blue field in the flag of the United States, 
and of the following dimensions and design ; to wit. The length, 
or height, of the staff to be nine feet, including brass spear-head 
-and ferrule; the fl}' of the said flag to be six feet two inches, and 
to be four feet six inches on the staff* ; in the center of the flag 
there shall be embroidered in silk the same on both sides of the flag 
the coat of arms of the Commonw^ealth of Penns3-lvania, in pro- 




portionate size ; the edges to be trimmed with knotted fringe of 
yellow silk, two and one-half inches wide ; a cord, with tassels, to 
be attached to the staff* at the spear-head,' to be eight feet six inches 
long, and composed of white and blue silk strands. 

" Section 2. The flag of the Commonwealth of Penns3dvania 
to be carried b}^ regiments of the X^ational Guard of Penns3'lvania 
shall be the same as the flag described in the first section of this 
act, with the addition of two scrolls, in red, one above and one 



SOME STATE LAWS. 123 

below the coat of arms of the Commonwealth; in the upper scroll 

the inscription ' Regiment Infantry \ and in the lower scroll 

the inscription ' National Guard of Pennsylvania '." 

Some State Laws of General Interest. i. Any person who 
wilfully pollutes, damages, or tears down a United States flag 
placed on any building or grounds or along any highway, public or 
private, or who uses the flag for advertising purposes, may be pun- 
ished by a fine not exceeding $500 or imprisonment not exceeding 
six months or both. No red flag intended to represent anarchy shall 
be carried in a public procession. 

2. For wilfully giving a false alarm of fire, a penalty may be 
imposed not exceeding a fine of $100 or imprisonment for one year 
or both. 

3. If any person is boisterous, or makes a noise, or uses im- 
proper language, by which he disturbs the peace or annoys persons 
residing in the locality, or traveling on a railway car, or visiting a 
park or picnic ground, he may be fined not more than $10, and in 
default of payment he may be committed to jail for not more than 
thirty days. 

4. If any person injures or cuts down a tree growing along 
a public road or negligently allows his horse or other domestic ani- 
mal to injure such tree, he may be fined $5 for each tree injured 
or cut down. 

5. A fine not exceeding $10 may be imposed on a person for 
throwing waste paper or other rubbish into any street in the State 
or for scattering the contents of any receptacle containing ashes, 
garbage, or other rubbish. 

6. Any person furnishing cigarettes or cigarette paper, in any 
manner whatever, to any person under twenty-one years of age, 
may be fined from $100 to $300. 



124 '^^E GOVERNMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

PRESIDENTS AND GOVERNORS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

CHAIRMAN OF THE C0MMITTE:E OF SAFETY. 

Benjamin Franklin Sept., 1776 

PRESIDENTS OF THE SUPREME EXECUTIVE COUNCII,. 

Thomas Wharton, Jr., (died May 23, 1778) Mar. 5, 1777 

George Br3^an, Vice-Pres., Acting President May 23, 1778 

Joseph Reed Dec. i, 1778 

William Moore Nov. 14, 1781 

John Dickinson Nov. 7, 1782 

Benj amin Franklin Oct. 18, 1785 

Thomas Mifflin Nov. 5, 1788 



GOVERNORS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 



Thomas Mifflin Dec. 21, 1790 

Thomas McKean ... Dec. 17, 1799 

Simon Snyder Dec. 20, 1808 

WiUiam Findlay. . .Dec. 16, 181 7 

Joseph Hiester Dec. 19, 1820 

John A. Shulze Dec. 16, 1823 

George Wolf Dec. 15, 1829 

Joseph Ritner Dec. 15, 1835 

David R. Porter Jan. 15, 1839 

Francis R. Shunk. . Jan. 21, 1845 

(Resigned July 9, 1848.) 

Wm. F. Johnston*. .July 26, 1848 

William Bigler Jan. 20, 1852 

James Pollock Jan. 16, 1855 



William F. Packer. 
Andrew G. Curtin. 

John W. Geary 

John F. Hartranft. 
John F. Hartranft. 
Henry M. Hoyt. . . 
Robert E. Pattison. 
James A. Beaver.. 
Robert E. Pattison. 
Daniel H. Hastings. 
William A. Stone.. 
S. W. Pennypacker. 
Edv^in S. Stuart. . . 



.Jan. 19,1858 
.Jan. 15, 1861 
.Jan. 15,1867 
.Jan. 21, 1873 
.Jan. 18, 1876 
.Jan. 21, 1879 
.Jan. 16, 1883 
.Jan. 18, 1887 
.Jan. 20, 1891 

.Jan. 15, 1895 
.Jan. 17, 1899 
.Jan. 20, 1903 
.Jan. 15, 1907 



"^ Interregnum. 
July 26, 1848. 



Johnston did not take the oath of offlce till 



COUNTY 
GOVERNMENT 



COUNTY GOVERNMENT. 

References in the State Constitution. Art. XIII ; Art. 
XRV; Art. I, sec. 6, 7, 9-1 1, 13-16; Art. Ill, sec. 7, 21, 2:^, 
22\ Art. l\\ sec. 8; Art. \, sec. i, 4-9, 15, 17-20, 22-27; 
Art. \l, sec. 4; Art. A'll, sec. i ; Art. A'lII, sec. 2, 10, 17; 
Art. IX, sec. i. 

Nature of a County. A county is a political division of 
a State. 

Practically everything that the officers of a county or 
township may do must first be authorized by a State or 
national law. In this way the county and township serve 
as mediums for carrying out the details of State govern- 
ment and giving all people, even in the remotest regions, 
equal benefits of the government. A county, for example, 
is used as a district in electing State Representatives, and 
senatorial and judicial districts are also based on county 
lines. 

Count}' is of French origin and was introduced into England 
by the Xormans. Before that time a county was known in Eng- 
land as a shire, meaning a share or part of the country and orig- 
inally consisting of several hundreds combined for purposes of gov- 
ernment. 

Formation of New Counties. The State of Pennsyl- 
vania is divided into sixty-seven counties. The city or 
town in which the court house and county offices are located 
is called the county seat. 

Xew counties can be established only by an act of the 
General Assembly; but no new county may be formed and 
no old county reduced in size so as to have an area of less 
than 400 square miles or a population of less than 20,000 
inhabitants, and in the formation of a new county no divid- 

(127) 



128 THE GOVERNMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

ing line may pass within ten miles of the county seat of 
the county to be divided. 

In 1682, the first counties in the State, Philadelphia, 
Chester, and Bucks, were organized by William Penn. 

County Officers. The most important county officers, 
found in some or all of the counties, are the following: 
The county commissioners, the sheriff, the district attorney, 
the treasurer, the county auditors or the county controller^ 
the directors of the poor, the prison inspectors, the county 
surveyor, the county superintendent, the coroner, the jury 
commissioners, the recorder of deeds, the register of wills, 
the prothonotary, and the clerk of the courts. ]\Iany of 
these officers are allowed to appoint clerks, assistants, and 
deputies and a few minor officials are appointed by the com- 
missioners. County officers, with the exception of the coun- 
ty superintendent, are commissioned by the Governor 
through the office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth. 

The so-called county judges are actually district judges 
of the State. They are part of the State's judicial system 
and are paid by the State. 

How Chosen. All the officers mentioned above except 
the county superintendent are elected by the voters of the 
county by ballot, on the first Tuesday after the first Monday 
in November, general election day. In Philadelphia the 
prothonotary is appointed by the judges. 

Qxialifications. No person is eligible to any county office 
who has not been a citizen and inhabitant of the county for 
at least one year immediately preceding his election or ap- 
pointment. District judges must be learned in the law. 
District attorneys must have been admitted to the bar at 
least two years. 

Term. The county officers elected by the people serve 
for three years and the term begins on the first Monday in 
January. The term of the district judges is ten years, be- 
ginning on the first [Monday in January; of the associate 
judges, five years, beginning on the first day of January. 



VACANCIES IN COUNTY OFFICES. 129 

The sheriff and the treasurer can not succeed themselves 
and the jury commissioners can have only two successive 
terms. 

Vacancies. Vacancies in county offices are filled as follows : 

In the office of commissioner and auditor, by the appointment 
by the' court of common pleas of a voter who voted for the officer 
whose place is to be filled. 

In the office of prothonotary, recorder of deeds, and register 
of wills, by appointment by the Governor till the next general elec- 
tion, when the voters shall elect a successor for three years. In 
case of death before entering upon the duties of the office, the 
Governor shall appoint a person to serve until the first Monday in 
January following the next general election occurring three or more 
months after the happening of the vacancy. 

In the office of district attorney, by appointment by the court 
of common pleas until the next general election coming at least 
thirty days after the beginning of the vacancy, the person then 
elected to serve three years. 

In the office of coroner, by appointment by the Governor till 
the next general election. 

In the office of treasurer, by appointment by the county com- 
missioners for the remainder of the term. 

In the office of jury commissioner, b}^ appointment by the presi- 
dent judge for the rem^ainder of the term. 

In the offxe of sheriff, controller, judge, and clerk of the courts, 
by^ an appointment by the Governor till the first Monday in Janu- 
ary following the next general election occurring three or more 
months after the happening of the vacancy (Art. IV, sec. 8, Const, 
of Pa.). In the absence of the sheriff, or while a vacancy exists, 
the duties of the sheriff are performed by the coroner. 

In the office of county surveyor, prison inspector, and director 
of the poor, by appointment by the court of quarter sessions until 
the next general election. 

Oath of Office. All county officers are required to take an oath 
before some person authorized to administer oaths. These oaths 
are filed in the office of the prothonotary. 

The Three Departments of Government in the County. 

The county has no distinct legislative department. The 
commissioners however, in a very small degree, have some 
9 



I30 THE GOVERNMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

kind of legislative power in the w.ay of making regulations 
concerning public property. 

The sheriff is the head of the executive department 
and the court of common pleas is the head of the judicial 
department. 

The county officers and county governments vary somewhat in 
different counties. Much of the special legislation enacted before 
the present constitution went into operation is still in force. 

County officials are required to furnish information con- 
tained in their offices, on application, to the head of any de- 
partment of the State government. 

The County Commissioners. Each county elects three 
county commissioners. No person is allowed to vote for 
more than two, so that one of them may belong to the 
minority party. 

The county commissioners have charge of the public 
property and manage the business interests of the county. 
They exercise supervision over the court house, jail, alms- 
house, and other public buildings and erect and repair coun- 
ty bridges. They provide county officers with offices at the 
county seat. To purchase land or erect new buildings they 
must have the approval of two successive grand juries and 
of the court of quarter sessions. 

They are authorized by acts of Assembly to establish a work- 
house for certain classes of convicted criminals ; to provide a 
marker for the grave of any soldier or sailor ; and they are re- 
quired to appoint one or more persons in, each township and ward 
to see that destitute soldiers and sailors receive decent burial. 
For the purpose of encouraging agriculture they are authorized to 
pay to incorporated county agricultural associations a sum of 
money equal to the premiums paid by the association on products 
of the county but not exceeding $1000; and no association shall 
receive such aid if it permits gambling on the grounds during its 
annual exhibit. 

They have practical control of the financial affairs of 
the county. To raise money they levy a county tax and in 



THE SHERIFF. 131 

cases of necessity they may borrow a limited amount of 
money. They purchase supphes for the use of the county 
and authorize the county treasurer to pay bills against the 
county. In some counties, however, the directors of the 
poor and the prison inspectors purchase the supplies needed 
for their purposes. 

The commissioners furnish the ballots and a list of the 
voters to the election officers and provide suitable polling 
places. They also give instructions to assessors and may 
change the valuation of a person's property if he appeals 
to the commissioners against vv'hat he considers excessive 
valuation. 

The commissioners meet as a board, two of them being 
necessar}^ to transact business. The county may sue or be 
sued through the commissioners. 

The county solicitor is appointed by the county commis- 
sioners to hold office during their term. He shall begin 
and prosecute suits brought by the county and defend suits 
brought against it and in general is the legal adviser of the 
commissioners. 

The mercantile appraiser also is appointed by the county 
commissioners. His term is one year. In Philadelphia, 
however, five mercantile appraisers are appointed, for three 
years, by the Auditor General and the City Treasurer. 

It is his duty to estimate the amount of business done 
by each merchant or dealer in the county and furnish the 
county treasurer with a classified list of merchants. This 
appraisement is the basis on which the State levies a license 
tax to be paid by merchants. 

The Sheriff. The sheriff is the chief executive officer 
of the county. 

It is his duty to preserve peace and order in the county. 
He has authority to make arrests and to suppress riots 
and disperse mobs. For this purpose he may deputize citi- 
zens of the county to assist him. This body of deputies is 



132 THE GOVERNMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

known as the posse coniitatus. If the sheriff is unable, with 
this assistance, to quell the disturbance, he may ask the Gov- 
ernor to send the National Guard. 

He serves all writs and executes all orders of the court,, 
both in civil and criminal matters. He has charge of pris- 
oners while on trial. H they are convicted he takes them 
to jail or to the penitentiary; and if they are sentenced to 
capital punishment he executes them. 

He sells property for the payment of debts when an exe-^ 
cution or order to sell has been issued by the court. He also 
sells real estate for the payment of delinquent taxes. 

He must give notice of the general election, in three 
newspapers, at least ten days before the election. 

The District Attorney. The district attorney prosecutes 
persons charged with crime committed in the county. He 
draws up the indictments and lays them before the grand 
jury. At the trial he represents the Commonwealth against 
the accused. He is therefore the attorney representing the 
people in general in the effort to suppress crime and punish 
criminals. In a case in which the district attorney is per- 
sonally interested, the Attorney General of the State may 
appoint a lawyer to take his place. 

The county detective is appointed by the district attorney. 

The County Treasurer. The county treasurer has 
charge of the public money of the county. He receives both 
the county and the State taxes, but money belonging to the 
State is paid quarterly by him to the State Treasurer. With 
the money belonging to the county he pays the county's 
bills on warrants drawn on him by the county commission- 
ers or other officers authorized to do so. 

The County Auditors. Three auditors are elected in 
each county having a population less than 150,000, but no 
voter is allowed to vote for more than two of the three 
candidates. 



THE COUNTY CONTROLLER. 



133 



They audit the accounts of county officers hanclHng 

pubHc money. They investigate as to whether all money has 

been paid into the county treasury, examine all bills paid 

. by the treasurer, and may disapprove of any payment which 

they think has been illegally made. 

The County Controller. Counties with a population of 
150,000 or more elect a controller instead of auditors ; and, 
on petition of tw^enty-five per cent of the voters, a controller 
may be chosen in smaller counties. 

He shall have general supervision and control of the 
fiscal affairs of the county and of the accounts and official 
acts of county officers handling public money. He scru- 
tinizes all bills and if he finds them legally due he certifies 
them to the commissioners and countersigns warrants drawm 
by the commissioners on the county treasury. 

He keeps an account of the receipts and expenditures of 
the county and has the custody of the bonds, contracts, and 
similar official documents of the county. 

The Directors of the Poor. In manv of the smaller or 
less populous counties township overseers of the poor are 
chosen to care for the paupers and the needy. In a few 
counties the commissioners act as poor directors. The ma- 
jority of the counties of the State, however, have poor- 
houses or almshouses and elect three directors of the poor, 
one being chosen each year. 

The board of poor directors supervises the management 
of the almshouse. They admit paupers as inmates, when 
requested to do so by two justices of the peace, but children 
between two and sixteen years of age must be supported at 
some other place. 

The Prison Inspectors. In most of the counties the 
sheriff has charge of the jail and in some counties he even 
serves as prison warden, the affairs of the jail being super- 
vised by the county commissioners. Several counties, how- 
ever, have prison inspectors, varying in number from two 



134 'THE GOVERNMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

to fifteen. They are either elected by the voters or appoint- 
ed by the county commissioners or the judges. 

They usually have general supervision of the manage- 
ment of the jail, choosing the warden and other jail officials^ 
providing food for the prisoners at rates fixed by the com- 
missioners, and conducting the prison's industries. 

The County Surveyor. The chief duty of this officer 
formerly was to survey the public land of the State lying 
within the county. He now surveys the sites of public 
buildings and makes plans for the construction of roads 
and bridges. When requested he makes detailed maps of 
the county or portions of it. Surveyors frequently seek 
the office for the experience and prestige it brings them. 

The County Superintendent. See Article X. 

The Coroner. The coroner investigates the death of 
any person wdio w^as killed or died suddenly or under 
mysterious circumstances. He empanels a jury of six per- 
sons and summons witnesses to assist him in determining 
the cause of death and fixing the responsibility if death did 
not result from natural causes. 

He may appoint deputies throughout the county. If the 
coroner or his deputy is unable to attend, a justice of the 
peace may hold the inquest. 

The Jury Commissioners. Two jury commissioners are 
chosen in each county, but at the election a voter is allowed 
to vote for only one of the candidates. 

Once a year the judge and the jury commissioners meet 
and select a number of persons to serve as jurors by writ- 
ing the name, place of residence, and occupation of each on 
a slip of paper. These slips are placed in the jury- wheel. 
Before each term of court the jury commissioners and the 
sheriff meet and draw the panel of jurors to serve at the 
coming term. These persons are called veniremen. The 
judge decides how many jurors shall be drawn and the 



THE REGISTER OF WILLS. 



135 



order to draw the jury is directed by the judge to the 
sheriff. 

The Recorder of Deeds. Deeds, mortgages, charters of 
corporations, releases, commissions of county officers, and 
various other papers are recorded in the office of the re- 
corder of deeds. The date on which a document is pre- 
sented for record is noted on its back, and a copy of it is 
preserved in the recorder's office. 

A deed is a legal instrument or document in writing conveying 
the ownership of real estate. A deed should be recorded within 
ninety days after it is executed to make it valid. 

A mortgage is a document pledging real estate as security for 
the payment of a debt. Xot only the date but also the hour and 
minute when it is presented for record is noted on the mortgage, 
since the mortgage first recorded has first claim against the prop- 
erty in case of non-payment of the debt. 

The Register of Wills. The wills of deceased persons 
are recorded and kept in the office of the register of wills. 
When a person dies, his will, if there is one, must be pro- 
bated, that is, it must be taken to the register and sufficient 
proof must be brought that it is the lawful will of the de- 
cedent. A copy of the will is then given to the executor 
mentioned in the will and letters testamentary are issued 
to him by the register. If there is no will, the register of 
wills appoints an administrator and gives him letters of ad- 
ministration. The register keeps a record of the transac- 
tions of executors and administrators. 

If disputes arise concerning a wall, the register of w^ills 
hears and decides the case. An appeal may be taken from 
his decision to the orphans' court. 

In counties in which a separate orphans' court is estab- 
lished the register of wills is also clerk of the orphans' court. 
With the approval of the court he may appoint an assistant 
or deputy to act as clerk of the orphans' court. The clerk 
of the orphans' court also issues marriage licenses and keeps 



136 THE GOVERNMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

a record of births and deaths m the county. In counties 
in which there is no separate orphans' court the duties of 
the clerk of this court devolve upon the prothonotary or 
upon the clerk of the courts. 

The Prothonotary. The Prothonotary is the clerk of 
the court of common pleas and keeps a record of each case 
heard in this court. 

A record of judgments and of mechanics' liens is kept in the 
office of the prothonotary. 

A judgment note or judgment bond is a written acknowledg- 
ment of a debt. It may be given voluntarily by a person or may 
be obtained through the decision of the judge in a civil suit at law. 
A judgment constitutes a claim against real estate. The order in 
which judgments against the same property are entered in the pro- 
thonotar3''s offxe determines the order of payment. 

A lien is a legal claim against property for the payment of a 
debt. A mechanics' lien is a claim filed against a building by the 
contractor or some other person if he is not paid at the proper time 
for labor or material furnished. 

The prothonotary also keeps a record of naturalizations, 
a register of the plwsicians of the county, and a record of 
national, state, county, and city elections. 

The Clerk of the Courts. This officer keeps a record of 
the proceedings of the criminal courts, — the court of oyer 
and terminer and the court of quarter sessions. He is often 
known simply as the clerk of quarter sessions. He admin- 
isters the oath to the jurors and witnesses and issues the 
notices summoning persons to appear at court as directed 
by the judge. A record of township and borough elections 
is kept in this office. 

In some of the less populous counties, two or more of the fol- 
lowing offices are filled by one and the same person : prothonotary, 
clerk of the courts, register of wills, and recorder of deeds. 

The County Courts. While the courts held at the 
county seat are popularly known as county courts, they 



COURTS IN THE COUNTY. 137 

belong to the judicial system of the State and are actually 
district courts of the State. On account of their close con- 
nection with the county's interests it is preferable to discuss 
them under county government. 

Each county has a court of common pleas, a court of 
oyer and terminer, a court of quarter sessions, and an or- 
phans' court. Philadelphia County and Allegheny County 
have several courts of common pleas. 

In counties in which the population exceds 150,000 there 
shall be a separate orphans' court with a separate orphans' 
court judge; and the General Assembly may by law estab- 
lish a separate orphans' court in any other county. 

These courts meet separately at stated times during each 
year. 

The court of common pleas tries civil cases, that is, 
cases which do not involve crime. Damage suits, suits for 
breach of contract, and disputes concerning the ownership 
of property or wages due, are examples of cases tried in 
this court. 

Argument court is the name given to a special session of court, 
lield without a jury, for the purpose of hearing cases based mainly 
on legal argument or the interpretation of certain points of law, 
as in granting writs of injunction. 

The court of oyer and terminer tries criminal cases of 
a serious nature, like those involving murder, arson, or 
burglary. Oyer and terminer means hearing and deter- 
mining. 

The court of quarter sessions tries petty criminal cases, 
like cases of larceny and assault and battery. The term 
quarter sessions has reference to the quarterly meetings of 
the court. Liquor licenses are granted by this court; and 
when the court sits to hear applications for licenses it is 
known as the license court. 

Special sessions of the court of quarter sessions, known as the 
juvenile court, are held to hear proceedings against neglected and 



138 THE GOVERNMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

incorrigible children under the age of sixteen years. Such chil- 
dren may be committed to the care of some respectable family or 
association willing to receive them or they may be placed in some 
training or industrial school. 

The orphans' court has jurisdiction over the estates of 
deceased persons, minors, and persons incapable of manag- 
ing their estates. 

Judicial Districts. After each census the General As- 
sembly of Pennsylvania passes a law designating the judi- 
cial districts of the State. By the act of 1901 the State 
was divided into fifty-six judicial districts. 

A county containing at least 40,000 inhabitants shall 
constitute a separate judicial district. Counties containing 
a smaller population are united to form judicial districts, 
or, if necessary, may be attached to contiguous districts : 
but not more than four counties may be included in one 
judicial district. Whether a county is a separate district or 
only part of a district, it has its own court house and jaiL 

District Judges. The district judges are frequently 
called county judges. Each district has at least one judge 
learned in the law. He is called judge of the court of 
common pleas and is also judge of the courts of oyer and 
terminer and quarter sessions and of the orphans' court in 
counties which have no separate orphans' court. The 
General Assembly shall provide for additional judges when- 
ever the business of the district shall show that more than 
one judge is necessary. Most of the districts have only one 
such judge. In counties having a separate orphans' court 
the judges of common pleas have no jurisdiction over 
orphans' court proceedings; but the judges of the orphans'" 
court, at the request of the judges of the court of common 
pleas, may hear and determine proceedings in equity. 

Districts composed of more than one county elect one 
judge learned in the law, for the district, and each county 
elects two associate judges who need not be learned in the 
law. 



JUDGES AND JURIES. 139 

Judges learned in the lazv are judges who have passed 
an examination in the law and have been admitted to the 
bar to practice as lawyers. 

Judges learned in the law preside at the sessions of the 
court, see that the trial is conducted impartially and accord- 
ing to legal methods, decide points of law raised during the 
trial, and sentence convicted criminals according to law. 

Among other powers and duties of the judges are the follow- 
ing: to issue writs of habeas corpus, writs of injunction, and similar 
orders ; to charter cemetery companies, church organizations, secret 
societies, and other corporations not for profit, to issue naturaliza- 
tion papers; and to grant petitions. They are also justices of the 
peace as to criminal matters. They are not allowed to practice law 
as an attorney in any of the courts while continuing in office. 

In districts which have more than one common pleas 
judge learned in the law, the judge oldest in commission is 
the president judge and the other judge or judges are 
known as additional lazv judges. If the president judge is 
reelected he however continues to be president judge. Both 
judges may sit together to hear a case or they may hear 
separate cases in different court rooms. If two happen to 
be elected at the same time they cast lots for priority of 
commission. 

Associate judges need not be learned in the law. They 
have in general the same powers that a judge learned in the 
law has but are not supposed to hold court. They sit with 
the law judge during the sessions of court and give assist- 
ance in various judicial matters. The law judge holds 
court alternately in the counties composing the judicial 
district and during his absence from a county the associate 
judges of that county attend to its judicial business. 

Which officers of the county have legislative powers ? 
executive powers ? judicial powers ? 

Juries. There are two classes of juries, the grand jury 
and the common or trial jury. The trial jury is either a 
petit jury or a traverse jury. 



I40 THE GOVERXAIENT OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

The grand jury is a body of twenty-three men who 
decide whether a person accused of a crime shall be brought 
before court for trial or not. (For the discussion of the 
grand jury, see Amendments, Article Y, in ''The Govern- 
ment of the United States.") 

Other duties of the grand jury are to inspect the court 
Tiouse, jail, and other public buildings of the county, inves- 
tigate their management, and make recommendations for 
their improvement ; and to approve of the erection of public 
buildings, the location of county bridges, and the purchase 
of land for public purposes. They may also investigate 
the official conduct of public officers within the county and 
may bring indictments against them for neglect of duty or 
other official misdemeanor. 

The petit jury is a body of twelve men who sit at the 
trial of a criminal case, hear the evidence, and decide the 
case according to the evidence. The decision of a trial jury 
is called a verdict and it must receive the unanimous ap- 
proval of the jury. The verdict of a petit jury is either 
''Guilty'' or "Not guilty." 

The traverse jury is a body of twelve men who sit at 
the trial and decide civil cases. The verdict is either "For 
the plaintiff " or " For the defendant." A traverse is a 
formal denial of allegations or charges made. 

Trials. A criminal trial. The parties to a criminal case are the 
prosecutor and the defendant. The following are the principal 
steps in a criminal case : 

The person accused of a cryne is arrested and brought before 
a justice or some other magistrate for a hearing. If the evidence 
against him is sufficient he is either remanded to jail or released 
■on bail. 

The district attorney prepares a formal bill of indictment and 
lays it before the grand jury when it meets at the opening of the 
next session of court. 

The grand jury considers the indictment and if it finds a true 
bill the accused must stand trial. 



TRIALS AT COURT. 141 

At the time set for trial the accused is brought into court and 
the clerk reads the indictment charging him with crime. 

The judge then requests the prisoner to plead. If he pleads 
''Guilty," no trial is necessary; if he pleads ''Not guilty," the trial 
proceeds. 

A jury of twelve men is empaneled, the clerk drawing the 
names from the list selected by the jury commissioners. Both sides 
may challenge or reject jurors who, in their opinion, will probably 
not decide according to the evidence. It sometimes happens that 
the entire panel of jurors summoned to attend court is exhausted 
in this manner and the sheriff may then summon any citizen pres- 
ent in the court room. Persons so summoned are called talesmen. 

The district attorney, in behalf of the com.monwealth, now 
states his case to the jury and brings forward the witnesses against 
the accused. Before giving testimony each witness must take an 
oath that he will tell the truth. After all the witnesses against 
the prisoner are heard, the commonwealth rests its case. 

The attorney for the defendant then states his case to the 
jury and presents witnesses in favor of the accused. Witnesses 
on both sides may be cross-examined by the opposing lawyers. 

When all the evidence is in, the attorney on each side makes 
his plea to the jury. 

The judge then charges the jury, reviewing important evidence, 
explaining the law connected with the case, and instructing the 
jurors with regard to the kind of verdict that m.ay be found. 

The jury retires to another room to deliberate and as soon as 
the members have arrived at a unanimous decision they are brought 
into the court room to report the verdict. Occasionally a verdict 
is reached by the jury without leaving the jury-box. 

If the verdict is " Not guilty," the prisoner is discharged. If 
it is " Guilty," the judge imposes the penalty by pronouncing sen- 
tence according to law. 

A civil trial. The parties to a civil trial are the plaintiff and 
the defendant. A civil case is not laid before the grand jury and 
the district attorney need not be an attorney in the suit. Each 
party to the suit provides himself with counsel to conduct his 
side of the case. The following is a brief outline of a civil case : 

The defendant is summoned to appear at court on a certain 
day set for the trial of the case. 

Both parties appear in court with their attorneys. A jury of 
twelve men is drawn. If either side objects to one or more of the 
jurors, eight more are drawn, and of these twenty mefl each at- 
torney rejects four. By mutual agreement the parties to the suit 



142 THE GOVERNMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

may dispense with a jury and submit the decision of the case to 
the judge. 

Both attorneys present their side of the case to the court or 
the jury and bring forward their witnesses, as in a criminal case. 

The verdict of the jury in a civil case usually fixes the amount 
of damages or other conditions involved in the case. If the ver- 
dict is for the plaintiff, judgment is entered against the defendant 
on the records of the court. 

Cases before the orphans' court are conducted without a jury. 

Compensation of County Officers. In counties in which 
the population does not exceed 150,000 most of the county 
officers are paid by fees, but recent acts of the Assembly 
have provided several of the officers of counties containing 
less than 150,000 inhabitants with fixed salaries; in counties 
with more than 150,000 population all receive fiKed salaries. 
These salaries vary in the different counties, being graded 
according to the population. 

For example, the salary of the district attorney varies from 
$300 per year in counties whose population does not exceed 10,000 
to $12,000 per year in counties containing over 800,000 inhabitants. 

The salaries of the judges of the court of common pleas and 
of separate orphans' court judges are established as follows: In 
Philadelphia and Allegheny Counties, $8500 per year; in judicial 
districts with a population of 90,000 but less than 500,000, $6000, 
but if there is only one judge he receives $7000 per year; in dis- 
tricts w4th less than go,ooo inhabitants, $5000 per year. Common 
pleas judges of Dauphin County receive $1500 additional per year 
for trying the Commonwealth's civil cases. 

County Taxes. The county tax is levied by the county 
commissioners according to the property valuations made by 
the local assessors and is collected by local tax collectors. 

The county also receives fifteen per cent of the liquor 
licenses and a license fee on each automobile registered in 
the county. The county commissioners may also levy a 
tax on dogs to defray the damages caused to sheep by dogs 
and for the payment of horses, mules, cattle, and swine 



COUNTY TAXES. 



143 



which were bitten by mad dogs and died or had to be killed 
on this account ; but at the end of the year any money in 
excess of $200, raised by this tax and remaining unexpend- 
ed, shall be paid into the school fund of the several school 
districts of the county. Three-fourths of the State tax on 
personal property is returned to the county. 

Questions Requiring Reference to the Constitution. i. Is the 
county superintendent a county officer? Art. XIV, sec. i, 2. 

2. How is the- public debt of a county limited? Art. IX, 
sec. 8. 

3. '^Is.y the State pay a county's debts? Art. IX, sec. 9, 10. 

4. How may district judges be removed from office? Art. 
V, sec. 15. 

5. If a judge of Lebanon County would move to Luzerne 
County, could he still continue to serve as judge of Lebanon Coun- 
ty? Art. V, sec. 19. 

6. If a case is decided in a court, is that decision final ? Art. 
V, sec. 10, 14, 24, 27. 

7. ]May the courts of one judicial district differ from those 
of another? Art. Ill, sec. 7; Art. V, sec. 26. 

8. Is a jury necessary in the trial of every case? Art. I, 
sec. 9; Art. V, sec. 27. 

9. What is done with the property of a suicide? Art. I, 
sec. 19. 

10. How may a person accused of a crime be released from 
jail before trial? Art. I, sec. 14. 



TOWNSHIP 
GOVERNMENT 



TOWNSHIP GOVERNMENT. 

References in the State Constitution. Art. I\^, sec. 8; 
Art V, sec. lo, ii, 14; Art. VIII, sec. 3, 11, 14, 17; Art. 
IX, sec. I ; Art. X, sec. 3. 

Origin of a Township. The township originated among the 
Germans more than two thousand years ago. A number of houses 
were grouped together, each with a plot of ground, and the whole 
was surrounded by a ditch, a hedge, a wall, or a strong fence, 
called a tun. The land comprised w^ithin the enclosure was called 
the iunscipe (township). It became customary for several town- 
ships to assemble in political meetings to elect town officers and 
make laws. The townships so united were called the hundred, 
probabl}" because they contained one hundred warriors or perhaps 
one hundred families. In northern England the township was- at 
one time called the by, a term of Danish origin. 

During the fifth century the Angles and Saxons invaded Eng- 
land and carried w^ith them the Germ.an ideas of local government. 
These ideas were in turn transmitted to the American colonies. 
Penn's charter gave him the right '' to Divide the said Country and 
Islands into Townes, Hundreds, and Counties, and to erect and 
incorporate Townes into Borroughs, and Borroughs into Citties " ; 
and in 1684 there were already twenty-two townships in Penn- 
sylvania. 

In New England town and township mean the same thing 
and the Xew England town has great power in local government. 
The township of the Middle and Western States is not quite so 
important and pow^erful as it is in New England. In the Southern 
States it is hardly more than a voting precinct. The local govern- 
ment of Xew England is of the town type; that of the South, of 
the county type; w^hile in the other States the governmental func- 
tions are more nearly equalized between the count}^ and the town- 
ship. 

Nature of a Township. A township is a political divi- 
sion of a county. The laws by which a township is 
governed are made by the State or the United States. A 
township is a corporation and can therefore sue and be sued, 

(147) 



148 THE GOVERNMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

can buy and sell property, can levy and collect taxes, and 
can borrow money. It may have sub-divisions like sub- 
school districts, voting districts, and road districts. 

The township is the seat of the local government and 
the home of self government. Too much importance can 
therefore not be attached to the soundness of township 
government and the integrity of township officers, since 
methods of township government may be employed in State 
and national government and township officers frequently 
become officers of the State or nation. It is in the town- 
ship, borough, or city where most people learn their first 
practical lessons in government and where the great ma- 
jority of the people come most closely in contact with the 
government. In the township, where every voter knows 
each candidate for office personally, political party lines 
should not be closely drawm, but the vote should be cast for 
the individual who will work for the best interests of the 
people and whose qualifications best fit him for the offixe. 

In its relation to the county and State, the township is 
merely a division which makes it more convenient to carry 
out the laws thoroughly and effectively; but in its relation 
to the people it has a much greater significance, since it is 
the township government to which they look directly for 
their ordinary comforts and conveniences. It is largely 
also the township government that gives the people the sat- 
isfaction and assurance that they are not governed but are 
governing themselves. 

Formation of New Townships. New townships may be 
formed in Pennsylvania by the division of a township 
already existing. A petition signed by the owners of not 
less than twenty-five per cent of the assessed valuation of 
the real estate of the township proposed to be divided must 
be presented to the court of quarter sessions. The court 
then orders a vote to be taken; and if a majority of the 
voters of the township favor the division the new township 
is established. 



TOWNSHIP OFFICERS. 



149 



Classes of Townships. Townships are divided into 
two classes. Those having a population of 300 or more 
people to the square mile are townships of the first class ; 
the others are townships of the second class. After each 
census the county commissioners issue a proclamation desig- 
nating the townships belonging to the first class. 

Tov/NSHiPS 01^ THE Second Ci^ass. 

Township Officers. The officers of a township of the 
second class are supervisors, constable, school directors, as- 
sessors, tax collectors, auditors, clerk, overseers of the poor, 
treasurer, and election officers. While the justice of the 
peace and notary public are usually discussed in connection 
with the township officers, they are actually State officers 
and are commissioned by the Governor. The commissions 
for the other officers are received from the court of quarter 
sessions or from the board of election officers. 

Hozv Chosen. The officers mentioned above, with the 
exception of the notary public, are elected by the voters 
of the township on the third Tuesday in February. Some 
minor officers, like the clerks of election and road masters, 
are appointed by their superiors. The notary public is 
appointed by the Governor with the consent of the Senate. 

Any voter who has resided in the township during one 
year previous to his election is eligible to a township offixe ; 
but women may be elected to the office of overseer of the 
poor and may be appointed notary public. 

Term. The justice of the peace is elected for a term of 
five years ; the constable, supervisors, assessor, tax collect- 
or, and auditors for three years ; the overseers of the 
poor, for two years ; clerk, treasurer, and election officers, 
for one year. The notary public is appointed for a fixed 
term of four years. 

The term of the justice of the peace begins on the first Monday 
in May; of the constable, on the first day of the next court of 



I50 THE GOVERNMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

quarter sessions, when he must appear before the court to accept 
or decline the office ; of the tax collector, on the first Monday in 
April ; of the supervisors, assessor, auditors, clerk, overseers of 
the poor, and treasurer, on the first Monday in March ; of the 
notary, as soon as he receives his commission. These officers^ 
except the notary, serve until a successor has qualified. 

Removal from Office. If any township officer refuses or per- 
sistently neglects to perform his duties and twenty-five citizens, 
owners of real estate, make complaint to the court of quarter ses- 
sions and prove the facts alleged, the court may declare the office 
vacant and appoint another person in place of the officer removed. 

If a justice of the peace or an alderman shall fail to reside and 
maintain an office in the district for which he was elected, for a 
period of six calendar months, he may be removed from office on 
petition of ten qualified electors of the district. 

Vacancies. Vacancies in township offices are filled as follows : 

In the office of justice of the peace, by the Governor, who ap- 
points a person to serve until the first IMonday in May following" 
the next election. 

In the office of assessor, b}^ the county commissioners, for the 
remainder of the term. 

In the offxe of the constable and tax collector, by appointment 
by the court of quarter sessions, for the unexpired term. 

In the office of supervisor, by appointment by the court of 
quarter sessions, on petition of the remaining members of the 
board, until the next election, unless the vacancy happens less than 
thirty days before this election, then until the second succeeding 
election. 

In the office of notary public, by appointment by the Gover- 
nor, with the consent of the Senate, for four years, as explained 
under vacancies in Art. IV. 

In other elective offices, except school director and election 
officers, by appointment by the court of quarter sessions until the 
next regular election. 

A tie vote is a failure to elect and is usually treated as a va- 
cancy. 

Oatli of Office. All township officers are required to take an 
oath before entering upon their duties. They generally subscribe 
to their oaths before a justice of the peace. The oath is adminis- 
tered to the justice of the peace by the recorder of deeds. 



THE SUPERVISORS. 151 

The Three Departments of Government in the Town- 
ship. The constable is the chief executive officer of the 
township. The judicial department is vested in the justice 
of the peace. The township has no distinct legislative de- 
partment. Whatever legislative power the township has is 
vested in the supervisors, who merely have the power to 
make some simple regulations concerning the roads and 
similar matters. In townships of the first class the town- 
ship commissioners may adopt ordinances on certain mat- 
ters. 

The Supervisors. Each township elects three super- 
visors, one supervisor being elected each year. The board 
of supervisors organizes on the first Monday in jMarch by 
electing one of their number chairman and another secre- 
tary. They also choose a treasurer, v/ho is not a member 
of the board. 

It is the chief duty of the supervisors to see that the 
roads and bridges are made and kept in repair. They 
divide the township into road districts of not less than five 
miles of road, and appoint a road master, subject to their 
removal at any time, for each road district. It is the duty 
of the road masters to work on the roads, see that the work 
is done according to the plans of the supervisors, and over- 
see the men employed on the roads by the authority of the 
supervisors. The supervisors may however make a con- 
tract with a citizen for repairing not more than three miles 
of road for not more than three years. They are authorized 
to purchase the necessary materials and machinery for con- 
structing roads. 

They may erect a town house, in which to store road machinery, 
hold elections and hold meetings of township officers ; and with 
the consent of a majority of the voters they may erect lockups. 

They shall erect guide posts and may erect watering troughs 
along the roads. At least once each month, during ^lay, June, 
August, and October, they shall remove loose stones from the 
roads or contract with some person to do so. 



152 THE GOVERNMENT OK PENNSYLVANIA. 

On account of increased demand for good roads, several laws 
have been passed tending to improve them. After approval by the 
grand jury and the court of quarter sessions, the county commis- 
sioners may locate or widen and otherwise improve a system of 
roads for public convenience. These roads are known as county 
roads and are maintained at the expense of the county. An agree- 
ment may be made between the State Highway Department, a 
county, and a township for putting certain roads in excellent con- 
dition. Such roads are known as State highways ; and of the 
expense of construction the State pays seventy-five per cent and 
the count}^ and township each twelve and one-half per cent. 

Several laws have been passed to encourage among the people 
a proper regard for the roads and a reasonable pride in their ap- 
pearance. For planting trees along the roadside, an allowance of 
$1 for every two trees is made, but this allowance must not exceed 
one-fourth of the tax for the year. For the use of at least four- 
inch tires in hauling loads of 2000 pounds or more, a rebate of one- 
fourth of the tax is allowed, the rebate not to exceed the cash 
equivalent of five days labor on the road. At the request and 
expense of a land owner, the supervisor is authorized to make and 
repair sidew^alks along a public road. 

The board of supervisors represents the township as 
the head of the corporation. In the absence of the constable 
the supervisors perform the duties of that officer. 

New roads may be located, after a petition by citizens 
of the township, on the recommendation of a road jury of 
three view^ers and approval by the court . 

The Constable. The constable is the chief executive 
officer of the township. It is his duty to see that peace and 
order are preserved in the community and that the laws are 
properly observed. In case of a disturbance which he him- 
self can not suppress, the constable has the right to order 
citizens to assist him or he may call upon the sherifif for 
aid in putting down a riot. He attends the court of quarter 
sessions to report concerning violations of the law in his 
district. 

He arrests persons on warrants issued by the justice of 
the peace. If he sees a person commit an offense, he may 



THE ASSESSOR. 153 

arrest him without a warrant. Persons committed to jail 
are taken thither in custody of the constable. He executes 
search warrants and serves summonses and other writs 
issued by a justice. He sells the property of debtors when 
ordered to do so by the justice of the peace, to the amount 
of $300. 

He must give notice of township elections by posting 
ten or more printed or written notices at the most public 
places at least ten days before the election; and within five 
days after the election he must deliver the certificates of 
election to the persons w^ho stand elected. 

The constable is also ex-ofiicio fish and game warden. 

The School Directors. See Article X. 

The Assessor. The chief duty of the assessor is to 
place a valuation on all taxable property in the tow^nship 
as a basis for levying taxes. This valuation is made every 
three years and is known as the triennial assessment. Dur- 
ing the other two years necessary changes are made in the 
valuations to cover the erection of new buildings and im- 
provements in others and the arrival of new residents. The 
assessment of voters who do not own property is based on 
their profession or occupation. 

If a person thinks his assessment is too high, he may 
appeal on a designated day to the county commissioners to 
have it reduced or from them he may appeal to court. 

Each township has one assessor, and in townships di- 
vided into election districts an assistant assessor is elected 
in each district for a term, of one year. The assistant as- 
sessor shall perform only the duties relating to elections and 
he is therefore chiefly a registry assessor. A vacancy in 
his office is filled by appointment by the court of quarter 
sessions. 

The assessor prepares a list of voters for the election 
officers. He must personally visit every dwelling house on 
the first ^londav in ]\Iav and the first IMondav in December 



154 



THE GOVERNMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA. 



or as soon thereafter as possible. He must attend every 
election to give necessary information to the election of- 
ficers. 

He also makes a report to the clerk of the orphans'' 
court of the births and deaths in his township and keeps a 
record of persons of military age. 

The Tax Collector. This officer collects the taxes. His 
duties vary in different parts of the State with respect to 
the kinds of taxes he collects. The road tax, with the ex- 
ception of delinquent taxes, is collected by the treasurer of 
the board of supervisors. The school directors sometimes 
appoint their own collector to collect the school tax. The 
collector commonly collects the State and county taxes, but 
in some townships these taxes are collected by the county 
treasurer or by collectors appointed by him. 

He must make monthly reports to the person to whom he 
must transmit the taxes collected. 

The Auditors. There are three auditors, one being 
elected each year. It is their duty to examine the accounts 
of township officers and publish a report showing the 
amount of money received and expended in the township. 
This report must be filed with the court and at least five 
copies of it must be posted in conspicuous places in the 
township. They have the right to disapprove of improper 
expenditures ; and in this case the officer in whose account 
the rejected item of expense appears must refund it to the 
township unless he appeals to the court of common pleas 
and is sustained b}^ the court in his appeal. This office pro- 
vides a check upon illegal, unauthorized, or careless expen- 
diture of public money. 

The auditors also decide disputes concerning the makings 
or repairing of line fences and appraise damages when sheep 
are killed by dogs. 

The Clerk. The office of town clerk is usually not filled. 
Formerly he was to keep the accounts and records of the- 



THE JUSTICE OF THE PEACE. 



^d:) 



supervisors. He now has practically no duties except to 
keep a record of stray animals. 

The Overseers of the Poor. In townships electing these 
officers there are two overseers, one being elected each year. 
The act requiring the election of overseers of the poor does 
not apply to counties having poorhouses or almshouses 
managed by the commissioners or by poor directors. 

Their duty consists in giving support to the poor, either 
by providing for them in their own homes, by paying other 
people to take care of them, or by contracting with an ad- 
joining county having an almshouse to care for them. 

The Treasurer. This office is abolished in all but a few 
counties of the State. It is the treasurer's duty to take 
care of the public money of the township. Supervisors 
and school directors choose their own treasurers. 

The Election Officers. See Article \^III. 

The Justice of the Peace. Two justices may be chosen 
in each township. Frequently only one of the justices 
chosen takes out his commission. With the consent of a 
majority of voters of a township, more than two justices 
may be chosen. To secure his commission the justice must 
pay $3 to the recorder of deeds, w^hich fee is sent by the 
recorder to the Secretary of the Commonwealth. 

The principal duty of the justice of the peace is to hold 
court on a small scale, in which he decides disputes between 
persons and punishes offenders for minor breaches of the 
law. For more serious crimes he binds the accused over 
for trial at court, releasing him on bail when this is per- 
missible. The punishments imposed by a justice consist of 
fines or occasionally of a short term of imprisonment. The 
accused may waive a hearing before a justice and have his 
case transferred to the criminal court for trial. 

Civil suits in which the amount in dispute is not over 
$300 may be tried by a justice. When the amount in dis- 
pute does not exceed $5.33 the justice's decision is final. 



156 THE G0VERX3JEXT OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

Cases above this amount may be appealed to the court of 
common pleas. 

The jurisdiction of a justice extends over the whole 
county, that is, he may hear cases brought from any part' 
of the county. 

The justice issues w^arrants for the arrest of persons. 
He also has authority to administer oaths, to draw up deeds 
and other legal documents and to attest the signatures there- 
to, to issue search warrants, and to perform the marriage 
ceremony. ' 

The Notary Public. A notary public may be appointed 
wherever the Governor considers it advisable to do so. No 
person can be appointed a notary who is not a citizen of the 
State and who has not resided in the city or county for 
which the commission is issued for at least two years im- 
mediately preceding the appointment. 

This officer administers oaths, protests notes and other 
bankable papers, takes depositions and affidavits, draws up 
and takes acknowledgments of deeds and other legal papers, 
and attests signatures to documents. He authenticates his 
acts by signing his name, attaching his seal, and adding the 
date upon which his term of office expires. His seal is 
recognized throughout the world. He pays S25 to the State 
Treasurer for his commission. 

A customs notary is a person who transacts notarial business 
with respect to United States custonis. An ordinar}^ notary may be 
appointed a custcms notary by the Secretary of the Treasury. 

Compensation. Township officers either receive a cer- 
tain fee for each transaction of business, a fixed sum of 
money for each day they actually serve in the performance 
of their duties, a certain percentage, upon public money 
handled by them, or practially no compensation at all. The 
fees are paid largely by the persons for whom the business 
is transacted, while the daily compensation is paid by the 
township or the county. Thus the assessor and the elec- 



TOWNSHIPS OF THE FIRST CLASS. 



157 



tion officers are paid out of the county treasury as is also 
part of the compensation of the constable. 

Township Taxes. The supervisors may levy a road tax 
which shall not exceed ten mills; but upon the unanimous 
petition of the board of supervisors, sufficient cause being 
shown, the court of quarter sessions may order a greater 
tax than ten mills, but not to exceed ten additional mills, to 
be levied. In addition to the millage tax, a poll tax of one 
dollar shall be assessed on every taxable. 

For discussion of school tax, see Article X. 

The overseers of the poor may levy a poor tax in town- 
ships where these officers are chosen. The township usual- 
ly derives additional income from licenses, fines, and various 
other sources. Sixty per cent of the liquor license is given 
to the township for the support of the local government. 

Townships of the First Class. 

Township Officers. The law establishing a government 
for townships cf the first class states that a township of 
this class shall elect township commissioners, a township 
treasurer, a township assessor, and three township auditors, 
one to be chosen each year. Townships of the first class 
have no supervisor chosen by the people and no separate tax 
collector. In the year in which the triennial assessment is 
made two assistant assessors are chosen for the valuation 
of real estate. The other officers of a township of the first 
class are the same as those of a township of the second class ; 
and the laws of a township of the second class apply to 
townships of the first class unless changed by act of the 
General Assembly. 

Term, Vacancy, and Compensation. The term of the 
township commissioners is two years, of the treasurer, as- 
sessor, and auditors, three years. The terms begin on the 
first Monday in ]\Iarch. The town clerk is appointed by 
the commissioners at their pleasure. The treasurer can not 
succeed himself. 



158 THE GOVERNMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

A vacancy in the office of commissioner or treasurer is 
filled by the board of commissioners until the next regular 
election. 

Commissioners receive no compensation. The pay of 
the town clerk is fixed by the commissioners. The assessor 
and assistant assessors receive $5 per day. The treasurer 
is allowed to retain five per cent of the taxes collected by 
him. 

The Township Commissioners. Each township of the 
first class shall have five township commissioners, and if 
the population exceeds 5000 there shall be an additional 
commissioner for each 2000 population in excess of 5000. 
They are apportioned among the election districts, a new 
apportionment being made after each census, but a commis- 
sioner need not be a resident of the district for which he is 
-chosen. 

The commissioners represent the township in its cor- 
porate capacity. They shall open, construct, and repair the 
roads ; may construct foot-paths along highways and erect 
lights where deemed necessary ; may cause sidewalks to be 
made in villages ; may establish a system of sewers and 
drainage ; may make regulations concerning offensive build- 
ings and objects and abate nuisances prejudicial to health 
or safety ; may establish a police force ; may levy a tax not 
exceeding one per cent ; and may borrow money. They may 
appoint one or more supervisors or engineers of highways, 
at pleasure. 

They may adopt ordinances regulating the affairs of 
the township coming within their powers. 

The Township Treasurer shall have charge of all the 
township moneys and shall collect the taxes levied in the 
township. He may also be treasurer of the school board. 

The Town Clerk shall be the secretary of the board of 
commissioners and shall perform such other duties as they 
give him by ordinance. 



BOROUGH GOVERNMENT. 



Nature of a Borough. A borough is a poHtical division 
intermediate between a township and a city. It is an incor- 
porated village or town. 

Whenever the people of a village desire or need greater 
conveniences than the township can give them in the way 
of separate schools, improved sidewalks, lighted streets, a 
water supply, and greater protection against fire and crim.e 
and in regard to health, a majority of the voters may peti- 
tion the court of quarter sessions to have the village incor- 
porated as a borough. They must give notice of this peti- 
tion for at least thirty days in one newspaper of the county. 
If the judge deems it expedient to do so he grants the peti- 
tion. A village need not have a designated population be- 
fore it can become a borough. A borough may be divided 
into wards, for the better administration of its government. 

Borough Officers. A borough has all the township of- 
ficers except the supervisors and has also the following ad- 
ditional officers chosen by the people: the councilmen, the 
chief burgess, and the high constable. 

The three departments of government are distinctly rep- 
resented in a borough. The council constitutes the legis- 
lative department, the chief burgess is the head of the 
executive department, and the judicial department is vested 
in the justices of the peace. 

Term, Vacancy, and Compensation. The additional bor- 
ough officers are elected by the voters for a term of three 
years. Their terms begin on the first Monday in March. 
The chief burgess can not succeed himself. 

An ordinary vacancy in the borough council is filled by the 
members of the council themselves until the next regular election; 

(159J 



i6o THE GOVERNMENT OF PENNSYI^VANIA. 

but if the court of quarter sessions declares the seats of the coun- 
cilmen vacant on account of the failure of the council to organize 
within ten days after the time fixed by law, such vacancy is filled 
by appointment by the court until the next borough election. \^a- 
cancies in the office of chief burgess and high constable are filled 
by the court of quarter sessions for the unexpired term. 

The councilmen serve without pay. The salaries of the 
chief burgess and high constable are fixed by council. 

The Council. The council is the legislative body of the 
borough. The laws made by the council are called ordi- 
nances. It represents the borough as a corporation. 

In boroughs not divided into wards the council consists 
of seven members, two councilmen being elected each 3^ear 
for two years and three in the third year. In boroughs di- 
vided into wards, the councilmen are apportioned among 
the wards, each ward electing from one to three councilmen. 

The council elects a clerk or secretary, who keeps the 
records of the council and signs and publishes its ordi- 
nances ; a treasurer, wdio has charge of the money received 
from the borough tax and from fines and licenses; and a 
borough engineer, who makes necessary surveys and fixes 
the grades for streets and sidewalks. It may also elect a 
solicitor, for a term of three years, to transact the borough's 
legal business and give the council legal advice, and a super- 
visor or street commissioner to construct and repair the 
streets of the borough. Sometimes the care of the streets 
is entrusted to a road committee of councilmen instead of 
a supervisor. It is also lequired to appoint a board of 
health of five members. The board of health shall elect a 
health officer who shall execute the orders of the board. 
The council elects one of its members president of council. 

The ordinances of the borough are passed by a majority 
vote of the council. An ordinance begins with the words 
'' Be it enacted and ordained." After the ordinance is 
passed by the council it is signed by the president and the 
clerk and is then given to the chief burgess. If he approves 



THE CHIKF BURGESS. i6i 

it he signs it. If he vetoes it, it may be passed over his veto 
by a vote of two-thirds of the council, or, when there are 
less than nine conncilmen, by one vote more than a majority. 
It becomes a law without his signature if he does not return 
it to council by the next regular meeting after it has been 
received by him. An ordinance must be advertised, after 
its approval, to become a part of the borough law. 

The council examines all bills and if it finds them cor- 
rect it orders the treasurer to pay them. On the petition 
of a majority of the freeholders in territory adjacent to a 
borough, the council may pass an ordinance to annex this 
territory to the borough. 

The Chief Burgess. The chief burgess is the chief 
executive officer of the borough. During his absence or 
incapacity his duties shall be discharged by the president of 
council. He shall be present at the annual organization 
meeting of the council but shall have no vote unless the 
council is equally divided, in which case he shall have the 
deciding vote in the election of officers. He shall not take 
part in the meetings of the council on any other occasion. 

He must sign or veto the ordinances enacted by the 
council. He must see that the ordinances of the borough 
are enforced and may himself arrest offenders against these 
ordinances. He is ex-officio a justice of the peace and as 
such he may hold a justice's court to decide upon the guilt 
and punishment of offenders. 

The High Constable. This officer performs police du- 
ties and is expected to preserve order in the borough. The 
council may also appoint other policemen for the borough. 

Boroughs divided into wards elect a justice of the peace, a 
constable, and an assessor in each ward. In making the valuation 
of property, the assessors of all wards shall act as a board of 
assessors. 

Many boroughs were created before the present State Consti- 
tution went into effect; and since they have been allowed to some 
II 



i62 THE GOVERNMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

extent to keep their old form of government, the governments of 
some boroughs may vary slightly from the form just described. 

Borough Taxes. The council may levy a tax for bor- 
ough purposes, called the borough tax, which shall not ex- 
ceed ten mills on a dollar. Of this tax one mill may be 
apportioned for public library purposes. It has no separate 
road tax, but the other taxes and sources of income are the 
same as those of a township. 



CITY GOVERNMENT. 



Nature of a City. A city is a political division contain- 
ing a large number of inhabitants in a comparatively small 
territory and having a more efficient government than that 
of a borough. It receives a charter from the State defining 
its powers and privileges, and future changes in its gov- 
ernment are made by acts of the General Assembly. 

A densely populated community requires a more thor- 
oughly organized government than one which is sparsely 
settled or has its population distributed over a large area. 
The close proximity of large numbers of people requires 
effective laws for protecting them in their rights and for 
punishing offenders against the peace and good order of 
the municipality. Special provisions must be made for the 
conservation of the public health, for a water supply, for 
good streets and sidewalks, for light, and for transportation. 
There must be special protection against vice and crime and 
against fire. The cleaning of the streets and alleys, build- 
ing operations, and the general appearance of the city must 
be controlled by municipal authority. Penal and charitable 
institutions, the postal system, and educational facilities re- 
quire special attention. 

Classes of Cities. Cities in Pennsylvania are divided 
into three classes : 

Cities of the first class have a population of 1,000,000 
or more. 

Cities of the second class have a population of 100,000 
to 1,000,000. 

Cities of the third class have a population less ^h^n 
100,000. 

(163) 



i64 I'HE GOVERNMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

The State Constitution forbids special legislation regu- 
lating the affairs of cities. The cities of the State were 
therefore classified so that all laws passed to regulate city 
government are general laws with respect to cities of the 
same class. Through this classification provision can be 
made for the differences as to government necessarily ex- 
isting between large and small cities and the constitutional 
prohibition is not violated. 

Cities of the third class shall be chartered whenever a 
majority of the voters of any town or borough, or any two 
or more contiguous towns or boroughs within the limits of 
the same county, having a population of at least 10,000, shall 
vote at any general election in favor of this measure. 

Philadelphia is the only first class city of the State. 
Pittsburg and Scranton are cities of the second class. There 
are twenty-six cities of the third class in the State. Six of 
the cities of Pennsylvania have a population less than 10,000. 
These were incorporated before the present Constitution 
went into operation. The Governor certifies the fact to the 
councils of any city when it is entitled to an advance in 
classification. 

General Plan of City Government. The same general 
plan is followed in the government of cities of the three 
classes. There are differences, however, in the method of 
administration and the general details of the government. 
The higher the class the more effective the government is 
intended to be and the more numerous and exacting the 
duties of the officers become. The government of a large 
city is as complex as the government of a State and prob- 
ably more difficult. 

The legislative department is vested in the city councils. 

The mayor is at the head of the executive department 
of the city. He is assisted by the heads of a number of de- 
partments, divisions of the executive department, and other 
officers with special duties assigned to them. 



CITY COUNCILS. 1 65 

The judicial department is vested in a system of courts 
similar to a justice's 'court but with greater power. 

Cities are divided into wards. Wards are to a city what 
townships are to a county and several of the tow^nship of- 
ficers are elected in each of the wards. 

The Councils. The councils consist of two branches, 
select council and common council. 

Councilmen are elected by the voters on the third Tues- 
day in February and their terms begin on the first Monday 
in April. The term of a select councilman is three years 
in first class cities, four years in second and third class 
cities. The term of a common councilman is two years. 
Councilmen of both councils are divided into two classes 
except select councilmen in Philadelphia of whom one-third 
are elected each year. 

Councils usually meet in regular session once a month. 
The councils enact ordinances which must be given to the 
mayor to be signed or vetoed by him. Ordinances may be 
passed over the mayor's vetc^ by a three-fifths vote of all 
the members of councils, or, in third class cities, by a two- 
thirds vote. 

Xo ordinance shall be passed except by bill, no bill considered 
unless referred to a committee; no bill shall be passed with more 
than one subject; no bill shall be passed finally on the same day 
on which introduced or reported except in case of emergency; the 
vote on bills is taken by yeas and nays and a majority is required 
to pass a bill. 

Xo ordinance may be passed which is in contravention 
of a State law or for which no authority, either direct 
or implied, can be found in the city charter or in laws passed 
by the General Assembly. 

The Mayor. The mayor is elected by the voters on the 
third Tuesday in February for a term of four years in first 
class cities and for three years in second and third class 



1 66 THE GOVERNMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

cities. The term begins on the first Monday in April. The 
mayor can not succeed himself. In case of a tie vote he is 
chosen by a joint meeting of the incoming councils. 

In case of a vacancy a successor shall be elected for the unex- 
pired term at the next municipal election occurring at least thirty 
days after the happening of the vacancy. In the mean time, and 
in cases of inabilit}^ the councils in joint session shall choose a 
person to act as mayor, and until such person is chosen the presi- 
dent of select council shall act as mayor except in Philadelphia, 
where one of the heads of departments acts instead. 

Duties. He shall see that the ordinances of the city and the 
laws of the State are enforced. 

He shall preserve order and peace; and to suppress mobs and 
riots he has the powers of a sheriff and when necessary he may 
take command of the police force and appoint special patrolmen. 

He shall supervise the conduct of city officers and is respon- 
sible for the work of the heads of the departments and may require 
information from them. 

He shall give information on the condition of the city and 
make recommendations to councils. He ma}^ call special meetings 
of councils. 

He appoints, with the consent of select councils, a number of 
the officers of the city, may remove such officers, and may fill 
vacancies in offices to which he appoints. In third class cities he 
appoints the police force, with the approval of select council, and 
designates one to be chief of police. 

He shall sign or veto bills. 

He has the power of a justice of the peace, may take acknowl- 
edgments, and may perform marriage ceremonies. 

Departments — Other Officers. For the better admin- 
istration of city government, a number of departments with 
executive duties have been created in cities of the first and 
second classes. Cities of the third class also have additional 
executive officers with duties similar to those of the heads 
of some of the departments in cities of the first and second 
classes. 

Some of these heads of departments and other officers 
are appointed by the mayor, with the approval of se- 



CITY DEPARTMENTS. 167 

lect council, at his pleasure; others are elected by the 
voters or by councils, usually for a term of three years. 
In first and second class cities a civil service system has 
been established for the appointment of subordinate officers. 
In third class cities heads of departments appoint some or 
all of their subordinates, but the law requires that these 
appointments must be made by reason of fitness and not 
for political purposes. The city of Philadelphia is coexten- 
sive with the county and therefore has also county officers. 
City officers in general receive fixed salaries. 

For cities of the first class the following executive departments 
have been created : 

TJie Department of Public Safety. This department embraces 
the Police, Fire, Electric, City Property, Building Inspection, Boiler 
Inspection, Correction, and Elevator Inspection Bureaus. The 
Director of Public Safety appoints policemen and has supervision 
of police affairs, the inspection of public buildings, and sirailar 
matters. 

The Department of Public Works. This department contains 
the Bureau of Gas, Highways, Lighting, Street Cleaning, Surveys, 
Water, and Filtration. The Director of Public Works has super- 
vision of the construction of public buildings and sewers, and 
other matters indicated by the titles of the bureaus. 

The Department of Supplies. The Director of Supplies has 
control of the purchase of all articles and personal property re- 
quired to conduct the business of the city. 

The Department of Public Health and Charities. The director 
of this department has supervision of the public health and of the 
almshouses, hospitals, and similar city institutions. 

The Department of Receiver of Taxes. All taxes levied in the 
city are paid to the Receiver of Taxes. 

The Department of the City Treasurer. The City Treasurer 
has charge of the moneys belonging to the city and pays out the 
public money on warrants drawn on him. 

The Department of the City Controller. The City Controller 
audits the accounts of city officers. 

The Department of Law. The City Solicitor is the legal ad- 
viser of the city officers and acts as counsel for the city in all its 
departments. 



1 68 THE GOVERNMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

Tlie Department of Bdueation. See Article X. 

A Beard of Revision of Taxes is appointed by the judges and 
this board appoints two assessors for each ward. 

A Department of Wliarves, Docks, and Ferries is estabHshed 
by act of June 8, 1907. 

In cities of the second class the following departments have 
been established, w^hich correspond in general to the departments 
of cities of the first class : 

The Department of Public Safety, the Department of Public 
Works, the Department of Charities and Corrections, the Depart- 
ment of Collector of Delinquent Taxes, the Department of the 
City Treasurer, the Department of the City Controller, the Depart- 
ment of Law, and the Department of Assessors. 

In cities of the tliird class provision is made for the following 
executive officers or departments : 

The Cit}^ Treasurer, the City Controller, the City Solicitor, the 
City Engineer, the Board of Health, the Water and Lighting De- 
partment, the Board of Assessors, and the Department for Admin- 
istering Charity. 

iMunicipal officers can be impeached on complaint of a number 
of freeholders to the court of common pleas. The court then ap- 
points an investigating committee. Impeachment cases are tried 
by select council, the judge of common pleas presiding. If convicted 
the officer is removed from office. A majority of the civil service 
commission in first class cities may recommend impeachment. 

City Courts. The judiciary of cities of the first class 
consists of magistrates courts. One magistrate's court is 
established for every 30,000 inhabitants. Magistrates are 
chosen on a general ticket by the voters at large for a term 
of five years. They have criminal jurisdiction in minor 
crimes and civil jurisdiction not exceeding $100. They 
take the place of police courts and aldermens' courts in 
other cities. 

The judiciary of cities of the second class consists of 
police courts and aldermens' courts. A city of the second 
class has five police magistrates, appointed by the mayor 
on approval of select council. They hold police court, hav- 
ing the powers formerly exercised by the mayor. In cities 



COURTS IN CITIES. 169 

containing over 50,000 inhabitants not more than one alder- 
man shall be elected in each ward. 

The judiciary of cities of the third class consists of the 
mayors court or police court and of aldermens' courts. 
Each morning the mayor holds a session of police court. 
He may commit disorderly persons to prison for not more 
than thirty days. 

References in the Constitution. Art. XV ; Art. V, sec. 
6, 7, 8, II, 12; Amendment 3. 



INDEX. 



Adjutant General, 78. 

Agriculture, Secretary of, 81. 

Aldermen, 168. 

Amendments to the Constitu- 
tion, 117. 

Appendix, 119. 

Appropriations, 72. 

Assessor, 153. 

Attendance, compulsory, 108. 

Attorney General, 78. 

Auditor General, 79. 

Auditors, the county, 132: the 
township, 154. 

Banking Department, 82. 
Bills, 69 — ^2. 

Boards and Commissions, 84. 
Borough government, 159; of- 
ficers, 159. 
Bribery, 102. 
Burgess, the chief, 161. 

Capital, the State, 19. 

Capitol, the State, 120. 

Certificates and Diplomas, 109, 
no, 112, 

Charters and constitutions of 
Pennsylvania, 21. 

Cities, classes of, 163. 

City, nature of a, 163; govern- 
ment, 163, 166; officers, 166. 

Clerk, of the courts, 136; of or- 
phans' court, 135; the town- 
ship, 154, 158. 

Commissioners, county, 130; 
township, 158. 

Commissions, Boards and, 84. 

(17 



Committees, 68. 

Commonwealth, Secretary of, 
the, 78. 

Compulsory education, 106, 109. 

Constable, 152; high, 161. 

Constitution of Pa., 23, 24, 57; 
tex't of, 29. 

Controller, county, 133. 

Coroner, 134. 

Council, borough, 160; city, 165. 

County government, 127, 129. 

County, nature of a, 127; for- 
mation of a new, 127; officers, 
128, 142. 

Court, Supreme, 88; Superior, 
90; of record, 92. 

Courts, of the State, 88; of a 
county, 136; of a city, 168. 

Debt, the public, 104. 
Declaration of Rights, 57. 
Departments, Executive, "j^, ^2\ 

city, 166. 
Directors of the poor, 133. 
District attorney, 132. 

Education, 106. 

Election, method of, 95; dis- 
tricts, 96; officers, 96, 149, 155. 

Elections, primary, 98; regular, 
100; contested, 64, 102. 

Executive Department, 'JZ. 

Expenditures of the State, 105. 

Factory Inspection, Department 

of, 82. 
Fisheries, 84. 

I) 



172 



THE GOVERNMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA. 



Flag, the State, 121. 
Forestry, 82. 

'Game commissioners, 84. 

General Assembly, 58; officers 
of, 62; meetings of, 63; pow- 
ers- of, 64 — ^"7. 

'Government of Pa., before 1874, 
15; periods and forms of, 19; 
Frame of, 22; after 1873, 57. 

Governor, joint powers of, with 

. Senate, 67; election of, 74; 

• term of, 75; qualifications of, 
75; vacancy, 76; salary, 76; 
powers and duties, ']6. 

Governors of Pa., 124. 

Health, Department of, 83. 
High schools, 112. 
Highway Department, 83. 
Holidays, legal, 120. 

Impeachment, 93, 168. 

Indians, school for Gornplanter, 

113. 
Insurance Department, 82. 
Internal Affairs, Secretary of, 

80. 

Judicial Department,^ .87;. -dis- 
tricts, 138. 

Judges, 88, 90, 92, 138. 

Juries, 139. 

Jurisdiction of Supreme Court, 
89; of Superior Court, 91. 

Jury comm.issioners, 134. 

Justice of the Peace, 155. 

Law of the State, 67. 

Laws, how made, 69 — 72\ some 

State, 123. 
Legislation, prohibitions on, "72-, 

special, 72. 
Legislature, the, 58. 



Library, the State, 85. 
Lieutenant Governor, 'j'j. 

Magistrates, 168. 

Mayor, 165. 

Mercantile appraiser, 131. 

Militia, 113. 

Mines, Department of, 83. 

jMinority, powers of a, 67. 

National government in the 

State, 119. 
National Guard of Pa., 114. 
Naval Force of Pa., 115. 
Normal Schools, iii. 
Notary public, 156. 

Oath of office, 94, 108, iii. 
Officers, public, 115. 
Offices, incompatible, 115. 
Overseers of the poor, 155. 

Pardons, 94. 

Pennsylvania, government be- 
fore 1874, 15; origin of, 15; 
name of, 16; territory and 
boundaries of, 17; capital of, 
19; periods and forms of gov- 
ernment of, 19; constitutions 
of, 21; government after 1873, 
57. 

People, relation to the State, 11. 

Police court, 168, 169. 

Political divisions of U. S., 11. 

Primaries, 98. 

Prison inspectors, 133. 

Prohibitions on legislation, 72. 

Prothonotary, 136. 

Receipts of the State, 105. 
Recorder of deeds, 135. 
Register of wills, 135. 
Removal from office, 93. 
Representatives, State, 58, .59, 
60, 61. 



INDEX. 



173 



Roads, S3, 151, 152. 

School districts, 107; directors, 
107, lAQ, 153; attendance, 108; 
appropriation, 112. 

Schools, the public, 106; Nor- 
mal, hi; High, 112; special, 
112; State, 112. 

Senators, State, 58, 59, 60, 61. 

Senators, U. S., election of, 66; 
vacancy, 67. 

Sheriff, 131. 

Sinking fund, 105. 

Solicitor, county, 131. 

Special legislation, 72. 

State, of the U. S., 9; relation to 
nation, 9; relation to another 
State, 11; relation to the peo- 
ple, 11; Department, 78; Po- 
lice, 84; institutions, 86, 112. 

Suffrage and elections, 94. 

Superintendent, of Public In- 
struction, 80, 109; county, 1 10, 
134; township, hi; borough, 
III. 

Supervising principal, iii. 



Supervisors, 151. 
Survey, county, 134. 

Tax collector, 154. 

Taxes, State, 103; school, 113; 
county, 142; township, 157; 
borough, 162. 

Teachers, 108, no. 

Textbooks, 108. 

Township, origin of, 147; gov- 
ernment, 147, 151; nature of,. 
147; formation of a new, 148; 
classes, 149; officers, 149, 156, 
157; of second class, 149; of 
first class, 157. 

Treasurer, State, 78, 79; county, 
132; township, 155, 158. 

Trials, 90, 92, 140. 

Vacancies, in executive offices, 

86; in county offices, iii, 129; 

in township offices, 97, 108, 

150. 
Voters, qualifications of, 94; 

privileges of, 95. 

Zoologist, the Economic, 81. 



JUN 3 1909 



